Carry On My Wayward Son
by Rose the Wary Wolf
Summary: Previously Shared Flesh. Freak never knew anything outside his dark room. But, he was so hungry. It was hardly his fault that he took a bite when the chance was given. Fleeing from the scene of the crime, Freak is found by disowned family and raised to be a proper ghoul. At least, until his savior and older sister is killed. The horror tag is a warning, kiddies. Slow build. Ish.
1. Carry On My Wayward Son

**THIS IS TOKYO GHOUL FANFICTION. IT IS FUCKED UP. PLEASE NOTE. THIS IS FUCKED UP. DON'T COMPLAIN TO ME. LAST WARNING. FUCKED. UP. NO TRAUMATIZED CHILDREN ON MY CONSCIENCE, NO SIR. **

**I just wanna squeal about this for a moment. Cause, hot damn, I like this story. **

**Unlike my usual plan of editing over a period of a week, I am uploading this right after I finish writing it, so if there are errors, please inform me. I just can't wait like I usually to. Holy hell, this story has me squirming in my seat. **

**This is just a surprisingly long prologue, so tell me what you think? I have a general idea of where this is going, but encouragement is always appreciated. **

**Imma just let you read…(I just realized that some of this is really fucked up, so…sorry, not sorry. For now, Imma have this at Teen, if anyone thinks it should be upgraded to Mature, please tell me~ Highly likely Imma upgrade it anyway)**

**Tokyo Ghoul and Harry Potter don't belong to me, if they did, Kaneki-baby would be hugged a hell of a lot more often. And Harry too, of course. **

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Freak was so hungry.

Not that that was something strange. After all, Freak was always hungry. He could barely even remember the last time he wasn't hungry. He remembered warmth and red hair. And green, green eyes.

But, Freak doesn't know those things anymore.

The room he was in was always dark. Cluttered with forgotten objects that the house's inhabitants have forsaken, it was cold and gray and dark.

Freak didn't think he liked the cold. He didn't think he liked the darkness. It was the same, every day.

It was only the colorful warmth that bubbled inside of him that kept him from going insane. It was always shifting, so much different from the constant gray that he has known for so long. He could feel it, circulating inside of him all the time. It took away some of the horrible pain of the hunger. There was a time before the warmth when the hunger made Freak forget about everything other than food. It would carve itself into his mind, overriding all other desires. However, none of the food that the thin inhabitant gave Freak ever satisfied the need. If anything, it made Freak even hungrier.

Then the inner warmth came, and he could think over the hunger. It was still always there, lingering in the back of his mind, but he could work around it. Just like he worked around the chains that held him in the gray room.

They were heavy, wrapped around his entire body, forcing him to lay on the ground. The chains had been thrown on him the moment he arrived at the house. It branded him just as much as the name they gave him. Freak.

The inhabitants didn't come down to see him often, just enough that he knew what they looked like. He never made an effort to know their names. Every time they opened the door, it was with anger and hatred. Words that he was still learning leapt from their mouths.

It was only thanks to the warmth that he understood the two that came down to see him.

Whenever they looked him in the eye, the very few time it has happened, the warmth would _reach_. And then he would be inside of their heads, seeing what they saw, knowing what they knew. He learned so much each time the thin or large inhabitant came down to spit at him.

He learned of the outside world. He wanted so badly to leave his constant cage to explore the sights that he saw through their eyes, but he was patient. There was always a lingering fear in the inhabitants' minds. A fear that someone would come for him. A fear that he would break free of his chains.

A fear that was well warranted.

He just had to wait, just as he had been doing for so long. Five years, according to the inhabitants.

He gently tested his chains, tugging at the cuffs that tied his arms behind him, connecting him to the wall farthest from the stairs. Not only were his hands chained behind him, but the rest of his body was draped in chains that connected to the floor. He could barely even twitch without hearing the clanking of metal against metal. Just another thing he was used to.

He often thought over everything he learned from _reaching_ whenever he was left alone. He had long since memorized everything to do with the dim room that he could. There were twenty-seven brown boxes within sight, each with their contents scribbled on. That is how he first practiced his reading, when he learned it from the thin inhabitant's mind. Now, he had it all memorized.

Kitchen utensils, Dudley's toys, books, Lily's clothes, Dudley's toys, pictures, Vernon's tools, Christmas decorations. The list went on and on.

With his head facing towards the boxes, there was not much else he could memorize about the gray room. He sometimes wondered about what was on the other side of the room, the side that faced the back of his head, the side he couldn't see. All he knew was that there was a source of light that illuminated the boxes behind him. But, he was more interested in the lessons he gleaned from the inhabitants.

Shackled as he was, there was nothing else that he could do.

He thought over the fear that brewed in their minds. About how he has survived without food. About how he has survived without needing to release his bowels. About how his clothes, a white shirt and white shorts grew with him. About how silent he was, just watching, waiting.

Freak, they whimper. He could only laugh, quietly of course.

The door opened.

Freak snapped his eyes to look at the entrance as more light filtered in.

He saw a large silhouette crowding the small threshold. At first, he thought it was the large inhabitant, but the mass was all wrong. This one was shorter.

"Piers, this is our chance to see what's in the basement!"

"Didn't your parents say that the basement was forbidden?"

Freak blinked in wonder. Voices. Unfamiliar voices. He had only seen the thin and large inhabitant in person, so who else lived in this house.

The boy. He remembered a mention of a son when he _reached_. Name, what was his name.

"Don't be a wimp! I bet they're hiding something cool, like a gun or a motorcycle."

_Dudley_. The child. Three inhabitants; thin, large, and child. A family. And the freak hidden behind the door. The skeleton in the closet. The monster under the bed.

"I don't know, Duds."

They stomped down the stairs. They hadn't seen him yet.

"Com'on Piers! It'll be fu-" The child turned around, revealing a smaller boy to Freak. The child was large and blonde like the large inhabitant, but his eyes were a wide blue instead of the large one's beady orbs. The boy was smaller, like the thin inhabitant. But, he had dark brown hair where she had dark blonde. His face was pointy where her's was round.

The child gaped at Freak.

"Duds, what's wrong?" The boy shoved his way around the child, curious as to what had silenced the other.

The child's gaze was locked on Freak's. With a twitch of his lips, he felt the warmth _reach._

_Fear_

_Confusion_

_Hesitance_

_Reluctance_

_Fear_

Freak slapped aside the child's emotions. They were not important. No, he needed to go deeper.

_A boy? Chained to the floor in his basement with long black hair that flowed feet behind him. So small, so many chains. What was Rapunzel doing in his house. Green eyes. So green, piercing his mind. It hurts. _

Freak grinned, baring his teeth at the floor, even as the boy started yelling in confusion. The child was frozen, locked in his thoughts. And Freak went along for the ride. The warmth heated up, burning like the fire that the thin one used to cook.

_Can't move. What is this? Stuck, lost. Mom? Dad? Where are you? Piers? Piers, help me! _

Freak didn't blink. The child's mind was so much more impressionable than the thin and large one. He could use this. He could escape.

The warmth snapped at the child's mind, twisting it as Freak saw fit.

The boy tugged frantically at the child's thick arm, shouting at him to snap out of it. Freak allowed a giggle to slip free. The boy immediately turned to him.

"Monster, what have you done to Dudley!" the boy shivered in fear, but Freak didn't bother _reaching_ out to him. No, he would use the child, who looked so much like the large one that would yell and taunt and tug at his chains.

For the first time ever, Freak opened his mouth and spoke. "Come to me." His voice was quiet, a breeze in the boy's panic. But, the child heard it loud and clear.

_Come. Go to him. I must…go to him. _

The child took a halting step forward, inching closer to Freak. The boy dragged his attention back to his friend at once.

"Dudley, what are you doing?" He questioned. He grabbed his thick arm once again, trying to stop the larger child. "Dudley, stop! Com'on Duds!" He begged, tugging fruitlessly.

_I must…go to him. Piers, don't get in my way. I need to go to him. I must!_

The child smacked the boy down, throwing him against the wall. The boy fell lifelessly to the floor, slamming his head brutally against the gray cement.

The child inched closer until he stood right in front of Freak's prone form. Unfortunately, he was still too far away. Freak's head was tilted back uncomfortably as he kept his steady gaze with the child.

"Closer." He hissed.

_He needs me closer. Closer and closer and closer. I must get closer. _

The child flopped to his hands and knees, the harsh impact peeling away some of his precious flesh. The sweet scent filled the room. Freak felt saliva slip through his lips, pooling on the ground. He ignored his disgust as the child was once again inching closer. The persistent hunger clawed at his mind. It begged and pleaded. It wanted to eat, Freak was so hungry.

_Closer and closer and closer and closer and closer._

"Dudley!" A shrill cry rang out from the open door. "Dudley! Piers! Where are you?" The thin one cried out.

Freak smiled widely as salvia dribbled down his face. The child was so close.

_Closer and closer and closer and closer and closer._

"Dudley!" Her voice was closer, panicked. Freak saw her silhouette in the threshold.

The child's hand landed in the puddle of drool.

"Dudley, get away from him!" She cried out.

"Too late." Freak hummed. He finally looked away from the child's eyes, allowing him to snap out of his trance. But, he was close enough. The thin one thundered down the stairs, calling for her mate's assistance. Far too late.

Freak opened his mouth, snapping his teeth around the pudgy wrist that was conveniently right in front of his nose.

The child screamed in pain as Freak tore out a chunk of flesh, his taste buds exploding with the sickly sweet flavor of his blood. The thin one grabbed her quivering child, pulling him away from the chained freak. She tried to tug him up the stairs and out of the basement, but she was not strong enough to carry the overweight child. He was in shock, unable to even move.

Freak focused on the food he had finally received. This is what food tasted like. It reminded him of the red-haired woman. The one with the pretty green eyes that visits him in his dreams.

He wanted more. Already, the food was giving him strength. A heat, so much different from the warmth that protected him for years, developed in his body. The thin one frantically tugged at her offspring's arm, trying to gently force him back into reality, ignoring the body of the other boy. She froze at the sound of metal clinking against metal.

She watched with wide eyes as the Freak slowly shifted himself into a seated position, his arms still chained to the wall behind him. She hugged her child to her chest, scooting backwards until her back hit the first step. She couldn't hear her husband, he must not have heard her or his son over his show. She was too scared to even scream now, however.

The Freak was watching her. His face was smeared with the blood of the child. He was smiling so innocently, gazing at her with wide, curious eyes. It was the eyes that terrified her. His right eye was green, like her freak sister's. But, his was a green that reminded her of poison instead of the peaceful grass that her little sister had possessed. It was his left eye that caused her to scream.

It was completely black with a red iris. Black veins branched out, consuming his check and lower forehead. It looked exactly like every humans worst fear. The predator of the top of the food chain. It was the eye of a ghoul.

She could hear her husband moving now. But, the Freak was moving too.

At her scream, Freak shifted forward, stopped only by the chains that bound him. With a backwards glance, he pulled, breaking the industrial metal and finally breaking free of the wall. His arms in front of him for the first time in forever, he quickly tore at the cuffs that chaffed his skin. His wrists were irritated and scarred, but he would survive.

He tore apart the metal bonds that kept him in place. His hands ripped through them like paper. If only he knew that one bite would give him so much strength. But, he waited five years for this. He had been patient. And patient people were always rewarded.

The large one arrived at the threshold, gazing down in horror at the bloody scene just as Freak wobbled his way into a stand. He tilted to the side, almost falling back on his face, only for the soothing heat to bloom at his lower back. He felt three new appendages form, slamming into the walls to keep him standing.

Suitably in control, Freak turned his attention to his horrified audience.

"Aunt. Uncle. Cousin." He muttered, flicking his dual eyes to each of them as he spoke. He struggled to form the words, but all of his silent practice paid off. "I'm so hungry." He informed him. He smiled peacefully as the thin one whimpered. The child was shaking and the large one quivered. Yes, this is how they should be. Afraid.

"Fr-freak, what the hell do you think you're doing!" The large one, who had not seen him tear into his spawn, recovered first. He took an unsteady step down the stairs, closer to his family. He too ignored the prone body of his son's best friend. Freak flicked his eyes over the boy briefly, noting that he was still breathing. Alive, but unconscious. Not that it mattered. He swung his attention back to the family of three, to see that the large one arrived at the other two. He finally found out where the blood came from. His horrified shout caused Freak to giggle.

The two that were still aware of reality gazed at him, misty hazel and beady blue staring down his poison filled orbs. He didn't even bother _reaching_, there was no need to. Freak grinned, displaying his blood coated teeth for his audience. The thin one shuttered as he caressed his bloody lip with his pink tongue.

"Be good hosts, Uncle, Aunt." He warned them, mentally pulling one of his new appendages out of the wall carefully. He wobbled dangerously for a moment, but he shifted his weight slightly, balancing on his two feet. "And don't move."

He commanded the appendage to swing around, swiping at the large one. His head flew off, slapping hollowly against the wall as his body thudded to the ground. The thin one screamed, clutching her unresponsive son to her chest as if trying to shove him into her rib cage for safety.

The appendage poked curiously at the immobile body even as Freak watched the mother and son with wide, fascinated eyes. She sobbed, watching the tentacle prod at her husband's corpse. It slipped into his corpse, nestling into his warm body. It slipped deeper and deeper inside. She could see the skin bulge at it slipped down the neck into the rib cage.

Freak could feel the tight warmth that surrounded his appendage. He shuddered as it poked at a squishy organ, worming in between hard bones. He commanded the extra limb to wrap the dull side around the organ and pull. The cooling body twitched as he wrenched his appendage free. The first three inches of the long tentacle were gently holding a salmon colored organ. The limb swayed over to Freak, holding the piece of meat up to his mouth. With a soft hum, he opened his mouth wide. The limb gently tucked the organ into his mouth. Once the whole thing was wedged between his teeth, the appendage swayed to the side, slipping over to the separated head. It curled its dull side around the heavy globe, flicking it into the air.

The thin one swiftly looked away, focusing on her freak of a nephew, desperately trying to ignore the sound of her husband's head smashing to the ground on the other side of the room. She ignored the sticky warmth that splattered her face with the torturous crack that she had expected.

Her nephew still held her husband's organ in his mouth, both eyes focused on her. Noticing that she was watching him, his eye crinkled slightly, as if he was smiling. And he slammed his jaw shut around the heart, blood spurting out, dribbling down his chin to stain the large white shirt she had placed him in five years ago. He tilted his head back, so that she could see her husband's heart slid down his throat to rest in his stomach.

Her freak of a nephew. Her ghoul of a nephew. He smiled at her. She flinched when she felt something wet brush against her check. Reluctant to look away from the smiling monster in front of her, she shifted her gaze to the side. A red tentacle waved at her, she cowered back, dragging her son with her.

The Freak spoke up, his childish voice hiding his monstrous nature. "Aunt, I'm still hungry. Feed me, Aunt. I need flesh." The tentacle moved from her check to caress her collarbone, too close to her son for her comfort.

"Stay away from me, Freak!" She screeched, releasing one hand from its death grip on her son to bat at the extra limb.

"I won't do that, Aunt." He stated as she screamed, her hand falling to the floor. The tentacle was unforgivably sharp, its side gleaming in the light. Her blood dripped to mix with her husband's as she stared at her stub of a wrist. "I warned you, didn't I, Aunt." He taunted her. He took a cautious step forward. He smiled, proud of himself for his accomplishment, taking another step towards his meal.

His tentacle, carefully turned to its dull side, wrapped around the child. It tugged him from the thin one's weak grip and placed him to the side. Freak didn't know what he was going to do with his cousin, but he was too focused on his aunt to care at the moment. He reached her side swiftly as she cradled her useless limb and stared up at him in terror. He smiled softly at her, resting his hand on her chest, right above her left breast. She tensed at his touch. He kept still, just smiling at her. Her shock and minor blood loss caught up to her quickly and she relaxed slightly as black dots covered her vision.

Freak's eyes twinkled and he placed all of his meager weight on his hand, piercing the flesh easily. Her back arched as she tried to cry out for help. The sound was never vocalized, pain causing her voice to be silenced. Freak was enchanted by the warmth surrounding his hand as he curved it around the frantically beating organ. It felt so much like the warmth that bubbled under his skin. A soothing and reassuring presence. His hand clenched around the warm organ and a choked squeak sounded from the thin one. Freak canted his head to the side and, tightening his grip, pulled out her heart.

He brought it to his face, taking a small bite out of it. It was sweet, sweeter than the large man's, but not sweet enough. Thinking over the knowledge from his _reaches_, he likened it to black licorice while the large one's was bitter coffee. He needed healthier meals.

He finished off the meal anyway, not in the mood to be picky. He was so very hungry, after all.

He stared at the woman's corpse, blinking for a moment. He turned his head to look at the unaware child. He smiled, and beckoned his three appendages over. With a mental command, they slid into the hole in the woman's chest and hooked around the breach. Tugging, the three tentacle split the thin one open, revealing her entire inner chest to the freak's gaze. Cheerfully, he took his time sampling each organ.

Chewing on the spongey and bitter organ that was guarded by the net of bone, he eyed the child. He was large, but not too large. He turned back to the thin one contemplatively. He frowned and shook his head.

"Too small." He muttered conversationally to his tentacle. He nibbled on the separated hand as he thought. One of the extra limbs tapped his shoulder softly. Blinking around at it, he followed its direction as it pointed at the decapitated body only a few feet from where he was sitting. The tentacle then waved at the unconscious boy off to the side. He grinned at the appendage, praising it for its brilliant thinking.

He stood, wavering for barely a second, and grabbed the still attached hand of his former meal. Dragging her to the mound of shredded chains, he tied one around her hand and pierced another through her stub wrist. Circling a final chain around her neck, he handed the ends to his three tentacles. They happily swayed, reaching to the pipes hanging from the ceiling. Swiftly, they wrapped the chains around their new hooks, leaving her desecrated body dangling in the air.

Meanwhile, Freak skipped to the large one, and placed his hand over the empty cavern that once held his heart. It needed less pressure than the thin one, but he had to shove his hand through fat to reach his goal. Once he felt his hand breach the cage of bone, Freak checked on his appendages' progress. Seeing the swinging corpse, he commanded the limbs to repeat the chest opening actions on the man.

Picking at organs he liked from his sampling on the woman, Freak shoveled the others out of the man's body. Gulping down a piece of the lung, he waved his limbs over to the child. Carrying him over gently, Freak placed the large child inside the large man, scooping out any innards that prevented his cousin from hiding inside his father's skin. With his hair just peeking out from stub of the neck, the child fit perfectly inside. Carefully folding the skin over the boy, Freak placed a bloody kiss on the older boy's forehead, before he was completely covered within his father's corpse. "Sleep well, Dudley."

Freak stood, looking around the bloodied room. The thin inhabitant was swinging merrily from the ceiling and the large one was hiding his precious son. Blood pooled around his old cage, replacing the gray with bright red. Red, just like the green eyed woman. Freak ignored the waving of his appendages to happily splash around in the blood.

He giggled as the cooling liquid splattered over his white clothing, banishing the monotone color. He crouched, cupping his hand in hopes of gathering a small pool. Failing, he turned to the hanging body that still dripped with blood. He skipped to stand under the body, stopping the steady pitter patter of life fluid staining the cement. Instead, the Freak's long hair was showered with the drops of blood. When some slipped down his face, he slipped his tongue out of his mouth to give it a taste.

He clasped his hands over his mouth as his giggles increased in volume. He twirled under the blood shower, feeling the liquid seeping into his hair. He tilted his head up, allowing for some precious drops fall into his mouth. Slowly, he calmed down, stepping out from underneath his aunt's body.

Saturated in the blood of his kin, he finally noticed the flailing of his extra limbs. Following their lengths, he saw they were pointing at the ignored boy. He huffed and waved his hand. He wasn't important. The limbs, pacified, carefully draped themselves over his bloody form, making sure to leave the sharp side facing out. One limb flung itself over his shoulders, another around his waist while the last tentacle wrapped around his chest twice.

Curious of the helpful appendages, Freak lifted his hand to poke the limb around his waist. The tentacle twitched away from the finger as the other two tightened for a moment. Taking the hint, he didn't touch the limb again, choosing to look at the strange addition.

The tip was a knob, about the size of a fist. The limb only gets thicker from there, covered in what looked like scales to Freak. The limbs were twisted around, as it was usually the inner side that was sharp, while the outer side was dull. Freak likened it to a flexible scythe. All three were mainly red, but they each had green veins. While curious about the second color, he could only be happy that his new helpers had his two favorite colors. Red, like blood and that woman's hair, and green, like his eyes and that woman's eyes.

The limb around his shoulder twitched, lifting off of him. It swayed in the direction of the staircase. Freak immediately paid attention, even has his other two limbs tensed around his body.

"Mrs. Dursley? Mr. Dursley?" Freak didn't know this voice. He was sure there was only the thin, large, and child. But, then again, the boy was there too. "Dudley? Piers!" The boy was obviously not another relative. No, he was something else. The child called him a friend. Freak frowned. The appendages unwound from their impromptu hug, waving around frantically. He heard a door open up the stairs. "Is anyone here? Hello?" Footsteps, getting closer and closer to the open basement door. His extra limbs were practically nonverbally screaming at him as they flew through the air.

Freak closed his eyes and reached out to the warmth that had kept him safe for years. Take me away, somewhere safe, he begged it.

He heard the start of a horrified scream as the warmth filled his body, shoving his body forward. He felt as if he was being stuffed inside a small space. He couldn't feel his extra limbs anymore. Their loss and the squeezing feeling caused him to cry out. He wanted out of the strange subspace. Where ever he was had to be better than this.

He landed on his face in a dark place. He flipped himself over carefully, trying not to throw up the first meal he had in forever. Once on his back, Freak saw the starless sky and the pale moon that shined down on him. Content on staying on the dirty ground, Freak tilted his head side to side in order to get an understanding of where the warmth had brought him.

It was obviously an alley. Freak had landed next to a dumpster, hiding him from anyone closer to the entrance of the dark path. He eased his panicked breathing and listened to his surroundings.

There was a soft chewing sound, accompanied by the snapping of bones.

Remembering what he had just done and what he was covered in, Freak was hesitant to call out, but with a thrum of the warmth and the memory of his tentacles, he coughed pitifully. The sounds stopped, a suffocating silence descending on the tight space. Clothing rustled before Freak heard quiet footsteps moving towards him. The being rounded the dumpster and he stared up at a fellow child.

She looked a few years older than him, with purple hair and red on black eyes. She stared down at him with bloody lips and a hungry gaze. A startled look replaced her leer the moment she noticed his own inhuman eye. Freak was focused on the four extra limbs that branched out behind her. They didn't sway and wave, but they were similar to his own anyway. They were red and looked scaled.

"Baby ghoul, what are you doing back here? Are you hunting?" The girl smiled down at him, taking in his blood stained clothes and crusted hair. Freak just stared up at her. She was like him. A freak. Did she feel the warmth as well? Could she _reach_? Freak was tempted to try it on her, but didn't want to cross any lines if she could do it as well. He didn't know the rules of freaks. Freak didn't take notice of the warmth that centered itself around his ears and mouth. It was always doing small things to help him, he long since learned not to question it.

Her smile slipped into a frown at his blank expression and lack of response. "What's your name, baby ghoul? You smell like…" the girl trailed off, a distant look crossing her face. Freak blinked.

"Rize, is something wrong?" a gruff voice called out softly. The girl turned, putting her back to Freak. He eyed where the appendages met her lower back. It looked a little like a red sack to him. He wondered if his looked the same.

"I found a baby that smells like Mama, Papa." The girl stated to the unseen man. Freak smelled like this girl's mother? He pondered that for a moment before tossing it aside. It really didn't matter.

"Smells like Audrea?" the man repeated, his heavy footsteps moving towards the two children. The man was in view far too soon for Freak. The man was built out of muscles. Even with the warmth and his extra limbs, Freak was terrified of the thought of being on the other end of this man. Not wanting to be at a disadvantageous position, he snapped into a crouch, backing himself against the alley wall. The man blink in surprise at the sudden action, but Freak did no more. He refused to release the itch in his lower back, not wanting to give the stronger monster a reason to attack.

The two strangers watched the frightened six year old for a moment before the man took a deep, and loud, breathe in through his nose.

"You're right, Rize." He confirmed. The man looked at the long black hair, dual eyes, and pale white skin. "It appears that your mother's family has abandoned another member of their family." He informed his daughter.

"Mama's family?" The girl wondered, gazing at Freak in awe.

The man nodded. "Your cousin, I would have to say." Freak twitched. He thought the child was his only cousin. Would they lock him away too? No, they were freaks as well. Freaks don't hurt other freaks, did they?

"My cousin," the girl mused.

The man ignored her for a moment, turning to the cowering child. His wife's nephew. "Boy, what is your name?"

Name? They wanted Freak's name? The warmth bubbled in this throat as he spoke up quietly. "Freak is Freak." His words were soft, as if a breeze on a summer's day.

"Freak? That's no good." The man acknowledged. "Rize, do you have any ideas for your new brother's name?"

"New brother, Papa?" the girl grinned widely, the inhuman eyes fading to purple on white.

"We don't abandon family." The man confirmed.

The girl knelt down so that she was level with Freak. She reached out, gently holding his face, smiling softly at his lost look. "You hear that? You're my baby brother from now on. And no one can take you away from me, Miharu."

The newly named Miharu allowed a giggle to slip passed as the girl, Rize, lifted him to his feet. The man smiled down at him. "We always take care of family, Miharu."

Miharu would never forget that.

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**And, somehow, a 1,500 word prologue became a 5k+ monster of an introduction. I wasn't even planning on psychotic!Harry. I'm happy that I got it, but wow, that came out of completely nowhere. Really happy about the murder scene though, cause, holy shit, that was fun to write. Apparently, it's not weird to talk about detailed murder if it's in story format. Who knew?**

**Now, for background information in case anyone missed it.**

**Yes, Shachi is Rize's Dad. I don't care that it is technically not cannon. I do what I want.**

**Shachi's wife, Rize's mom, is Harry/Miharu/Freak's aunt. On his father side. THAT WILL EXPLAINED FURTHER, I SWEAR. **

**The basement replaced the cupboard under the stairs. Cause I felt like it.**

**Harry/Miharu/Freak is fucked up beyond belief. If anyone somehow missed that.**

**I think that's it. Any questions, just send me a review and I'll get back to you before I update next. (Speaking of which, not sure when that will be. With how interested I am in this at the moment, I could update any time between four days from now and next month. So, look forward to that.)**


	2. There'll be Peace When You are Done

**Well, holy shit then. I was not expecting such a large reaction. Hot damn. Imma just…write this chapter then. (Please excuse me as I go blush in a corner.) Thanks to everyone that reviewed, followed, and/or favorited!**

**(This second chapter was a lot harder than I thought it would be. First chapter was really just me unleashing my inner murderer. This actually had to have a plot and characters and dialogue. It was exhausting.) This chapter is kinda boring, cause it focuses on Miharu learning about being a ghoul and adjusting to being out of his basement. Upside, the main idea for this chapter is creepy again. Just, not as wonderful as the murder scene, sadly enough.**

**Let's be honest. Imma college student. I don't own anything.**

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Miharu wasn't sure what to think about his new family. They were nothing like his aunt, uncle, and cousin. Instead, they were freaks too.

Having been dragged along by the older girl to a strange building, Miharu looked around the room the three of them were in. It was a single room, with a low table in the middle, where the three inhabitants were seated. Off to one side was a small kitchen and only two doors led away from the small space.

The girl, noticing Miharu's gaze, smiled at the younger boy. "Home sweet home, Miharu." He blinked at her bitter tone.

He had never seen a kitchen outside of his _reaches_ and the floor was so comfortable. What more did she want?

"Don't mind Rize, Miharu." The gruff man commented, watching the confused furrow of the boy's brow. "We are using this as a temporary base and she's not very happy about it." He explained.

Miharu turned towards the frightening man, tightly holding back the urge to cower. His black eyes and harsh gaze did not make the little boy comfortable. It looked far too much like the large one before he started kicking his prone form. And, unlike with his uncle, this being was a freak too. He didn't think his abilities would help him against this monster.

"I think you're scaring him, Papa," Rize realized. Being across from Miharu, she saw how his fists clenched at her father's words. "You shouldn't worry about him," she tried to reassure him. "Papa is really just a giant teddy bear. Just don't tell anyone else, they won't believe you."

Miharu decided now was as good a time as any to speak up. "Others?"

The father-daughter duo had to focus in order to hear their new family member. They exchanged a look at his question.

"Ghouls, Doves; anyone that's not family." Rize explained. "In this world, family is the only thing we have. Everyone else is the enemy." The man crossed his arms, nodding at the girl's words.

Miharu was confused. These people claimed to be family, but what about the others? The two he just fed from? "Family." He tested out the word, feeling it roll off his tongue. What a strange word.

"Yes, we're family. You're my new baby brother. And Papa is your dad now. Nothing will ever change that." Rize confirmed, grinning at her bewildered little brother.

"Even if…I'm a freak?" Rize was startled by Miharu's soft question.

"Ah…" she stuttered. Unsure how to answer that, she turned to her father for help.

"Whoever told you that," Shachi started. Miharu immediately snapped his poison green eyes towards the towering man. "Knows nothing about this world. The only freaks are those who accept that is what they are. Now, Miharu, are you a freak?"

Miharu stared at the man. A freak is someone who is different, nothing more and nothing less. But, Miharu hated the word that chained him as thoroughly as his shackles.

Rather than respond, he closed his luminescent eyes and looked inwards, bypassing the warmth that still coated his ears and mouth. Feeling that strangely soothing heat once again, he reached out with a metaphysical hand and tugged at the energy.

Feeling the heat bloom in his left eye and an itch form at his lower back, Miharu revealed his dual gaze once again.

Rize stared, stunned at the one eyed ghoul sitting before her. When she had seen his eye in the alley, his beautiful hair had been covering the right side of his face. But, now she could see green on white resting right next to red on black.

Shachi blinked in surprise. While his wife had informed him of her family, he had not expected a half-breed to land on his door step.

"Even if you only have one eye, you are still a ghoul. You are still our family." Shachi reaffirmed.

Miharu took it a step further, feeling his three appendages breach his flesh. They waved behind him, seeming to be observing the two before them. Rize was awed.

"Papa, they look like mine!" she exclaimed in excitement. One of the tentacles reached out and carefully wrapped around her wrist. She giggled, staring at the red and green limb.

"Like yours and your mother's." Shachi didn't comment on the strange movements of the kagune. Or the dual colors. He learned his lesson from Audrea. Don't question the abilities of magical ghouls. "Is that all, Miharu?"

The blood covered boy canted his head to the side, inwardly astonished at the lack of fear or disgust. Surely, it was because they were freaks too. No one else in this world would accept Miharu for what he was. The disgusting, horrible freak that he was. He thanked that warmth for bringing him to such pure beings.

Miharu nodded.

"Then, welcome to the family." Shachi grinned. "I am your new father, call me Papa. Rize will be your older sister. Miharu, how old are you?"

Miharu thought for a moment. He was bound in chains for five years. He was sure that he wasn't too old when he arrived. "Six?" he muttered, unsure. He continued to contemplate his age, even as his new family shared another look at his response.

"Rize is ten. She'll teach you everything you need to know about being a ghoul." Rize nodded firmly in agreement.

"Ghoul?" Miharu was unfamiliar with the term. Even in all of his _reaches_, ghoul was not a word that the thin and large ones thought about. Maybe if he had dug deeper…

"It's what you are. Or, at least, part of what you are." The purple haired child amended.

"Not a freak?" this was just getting confusing for Miharu. He was confident in the knowledge that he was a freak. But now, there were people who claimed to be family that could do what he could and even had a name for it.

"What did I just tell you?" Shachi asked, frustrated. "A ghoul is a creature that is both carnivorous and cannibalistic. We feed off other humans or other ghouls. We are, physically, similar to humans, a wolf in sheep's clothing, if you will. We can be characterized by our high Rc levels, kagune, kakugan, and kakuhou." He summarized.

His tentacles waved at him after the man's explanation. "What is it?" he asked them quietly.

"You mean you aren't making them do that?" Rize spoke up, watching his interaction with his extra limbs with confusion.

"No." he blinked at her, remembering how her tentacles didn't dance behind her.

"Rize, Miharu's kagune is his own business. Let him figure it out on his own." Shachi ordered his daughter. She turned her head away from him, gritting her teeth at his words. Miharu watched the interaction with concern. The quiet 'don't ask questions' buzzed in his mind. His tentacles, feeling his turmoil, once again draped around his body in a twisted hug.

"It's just weird." She muttered. Shachi tactfully ignored her, turning back to his new son.

"You're covered in blood." Shachi's face never twitched, but Miharu felt the slightest worry from the man. He was tempted to _reach_. How else would he know what these two wanted from him?

"Not mine." He assured the two. "Aunt. Uncle." The look in the older man's eyes became fierce for a moment.

But, he only nodded in acceptance. "Rize, help your brother bathe. I will be back in a moment." The mass of muscles stood, forcing every instinct in Miharu to scream that he needed to stand as well. The shadow that loomed over him made his hair rise. Scrunching his nose in distaste, he stood as well, allowing the screams to settle to a hesitant whimper. This fear was starting to become annoying.

"And where are you going?" Rize questioned, lazily rising to a stand.

Shachi barely paid her any mind, stalking towards the door. "The boy needs new clothing." Not waiting for Rize's response, he left the apartment, supposedly heading for a store.

"One day…" the older child huffed. Miharu watched her glare at the closed door for a moment before one of his tentacles left his body to tap her on the shoulder. She flinched in surprise but blinked her lavender gaze at the younger ghoul. "Right, you need a bath." She muttered to herself. "Ah, if you could put away your kagune?" she asked, the tentacle that had grabbed her attention taking the time to poke and prod at the room. The other two joined the first, searching for anything that could potentially harm the little boy.

"Kagune?" he wondered out loud, not bothering to move as his extra limbs did all of the paranoid work for him.

"Your…tentacles, for lack of better word," she sighed. "Just, put them away. You need a bath and they won't fit in the tub."

"But they need to be cleaned. They were playing in the blood too," he tried to explain.

"They look perfectly clean to me." Her voice was firm. Miharu was not used to others telling him what to do and was unsure how he was supposed to react. Thankfully, the appendages had finished their inspection and were now returning to his side. One of them caught his attention and waved at the frustrated girl. He tilted his head at its insistence, but conceded to her desires. Red and green mist floated around him for a moment as he released the heat in his mental hand. "That's better."

She grabbed his wrist and dragged him to one of the doors. Following behind obediently, Miharu stared at the back of Rize's head.

She stepped into the room, flicking on the light. Miharu, curious about what non-freaks did, glanced around the room. Rize dropped his wrist and crouched next to a hollow bed. He blinked at how clean the entire room was. Compared to the comfortable ground, the tiled floor was cold against Miharu's bare feet. He wrinkled his nose, shuffling in his spot. The artificial smell of flowers tickled his sensitive nose. Disturbed, he turned to the side, only to be startled by the mirror image looking back at him.

Transfixed, he gazed at the twin in awe. His long black hair was wild, curling around his thin elbows. There was a thin scar that rested above his poison green right eye. He was pale, matching the white of the floor. His black hair was clumped together from the dried blood which coated the rest of his body. Barely any white could be seen on his clothes. For once, the warmth didn't bother cleaning his shirt and pants. With a shaky hand, Miharu caressed his blood streaked check. He didn't look much different from the thin and large one. Or even Rize and the man. He looked…human.

There was nothing freaky about him.

"Take off your clothes." Rize's voice broke him from his thoughts. Not minding the flecks of blood that floated to the floor, Miharu obeyed. Rize absentmindedly pointed at a full tub, digging through a collection of soaps and hair care products.

Miharu stared at the large body of water, hesitant to follow his newest order. From what he knew, water killed people. Unless they knew how to swim, many people drowned every year. But, Rize had only been kind to him so far. The chances of her trying to kill him already weren't high. Taking a leap of faith, he slipped into the warm water.

He moved his arms cautiously. His eyes lit up in glee at the strange new sensation, proceeding to gently splash around. It felt similar to when his kagune had breached the large one's body. Only, it was even easier to maneuver through.

"Alright, that's enough of that. Let's get you washed up for Papa." Miharu spun around, seeing Rize seated outside on the water. She was smiling and held up a wet piece of cloth. He watched her intently as she reached into the water. Feeling her grab his wrist once again, she pulled it out of the dirtying water.

"I probably should have washed you beforehand, but we need to keep the water bills down. Papa hasn't been able to find a suitable job yet." Rize stated conversationally. Miharu relaxed at her words, focused on how she rubbed the cloth against his shoulder and down his arm. As she went, bubbles formed, mixing with the blood. When she started on his wrist, she paused in shock. "Miharu…what happened to you?" her purple eyes were wide, eying the dark scar that circled his entire wrist.

"Chains." He stated. She turned her horrified look to meet his eyes. "Aunt. Uncle." Rize sat back for a moment, taking in the amount of blood on him. She stared at how pale he was and remembered how curious he was about everything.

"They got what they deserved then. They were humans, weren't they? How disgusting." Her once gentle rubbing escalated into a harsh scrub, but Miharu didn't mind. He enjoyed her touch, even if his traitorous skin turned an irritated red at her actions. Other than the red haired woman, he didn't remember anyone ever touching him before.

The warmth flickered inside hesitantly as the heat rushed to sooth his burning flesh. Before his eyes, the swelling disappeared, quickly enough that Rize didn't even notice the damage that she had done. However, the warmth blocked the heat from healing his scars.

Miharu watched as her purple eyes darkened in anger as she moved onto his other wrist. Her mouth morphed into a snarl when she reached his ankles. The whole time, he only moved when she directed him to. Finally, she had soaped up and washed down his entire body.

"Turn around, Miharu," Rize tried to keep the anger out of her voice. Of course, she failed, Miharu was an expert at listening for anger. It was the only way to tell what the thin or large one would do when they visited. He obeyed her anyway.

His ears perked up when he heard the popping of a cap. Tempted to glance behind him, he resolutely stared at the wall. He tensed when Rize's hand landed abruptly on his head. She smoothed something into his hair and started to massage it in. He nearly purred as she rubbed his scalp, kneading his hair. Miharu became practically boneless as he relaxed into her hands.

"You have so much hair," she remarked in wonder. He stiffened slightly. She was right, he realized. Rize herself had short hair, ending at her jaw line. The man's hair was a similar length.

"Bad?" He asked, cautiously.

"No, no, no." She quickly reassured him. "It's really beautiful." She raked her hand through his long locks once more, dragging an actual sigh of happiness out of the younger child. "Hey, Miharu." He slightly tilted his head to the side in acknowledgement. "Never cut your hair, alright?"

Miharu didn't vocalize a response, deciding to nod silently instead. He would never cut his hair.

Rize motioned him to sit normally in the tub once again and carefully dunked his head under the water twice. After making sure that all of the suds were washed off and he was relatively clean of blood, she tugged him out of the water. Rize wrapped him in a fluffy towel, grabbing another to dry off his hair.

She directed him to sit on ground as she perched herself on the ledge of the tub. In smooth motions, she ran a hairbrush through his hair, causing Miharu to lean back onto her knees. Once finished, she cheerfully braided his hair, humming a soft tune as she delicately twisted the inky locks.

The serene atmosphere came to a close when they heard the front door open and close.

Rize sighed, tying the ends of Miharu's hair, completing the braid.

"Come on, it looks like Papa's back with something for you to wear." She, once again, dragged him around the apartment, the warm towel being the only thing covering his nude form.

Setting out of the bathroom, the two children were confronted by Shachi eying them with a small bag in his right fist. He nodded sharply at the sight of Miharu's clean form. Without a word, he passed the bag to Rize, moving towards the kitchen. Miharu watched as he took out a machine and a tin canister.

Rize pulled a dark green long sleeved shirt, a pair of black shorts, and checkered boxers from the bag.

"Miharu," Rize called for his attention, snapping him away from watching the older man. "These might be too big, but try them on."

Miharu immediately dropped his towel, reaching for the clothing offered. Not even minding his sudden nudity or Rize's squeak of surprise, he started dressing himself. Or, at least, trying to.

At his daughter's squeak, Shachi glanced at the two children behind him. Raising an eyebrow at the boy's lack of modesty, he noticed his struggles.

"Here." Shachi stepped forward, helping the boy's head and arms through the right holes of the shirt. Feeling the child tense immediately at his assistance, Shachi backed away. He hid a frown of concern at the boy's frozen state as he watched the older man. Miharu was acting as if the prey and the father was not sure how that made him feel. "Rize, help him with his pants." He ordered, giving the one-eyed ghoul the space he desired.

"Like this, Miharu," Rize instructed, maneuvering his limbs around the fabric. Once complete, she smiled at the finished product. "There we go!"

Miharu spun around twice, fascinated with his new clothes. It was softer than his other outfit. And it was bought specifically for him. He grinned shyly back at the older girl.

Shachi left the kitchen area with three mugs steady in his large hands. Placing them down on the table, he waved the two standing children to join him. Once again seated together, Miharu wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. Not only had he already looked around the room, but so had his kagune. He eyed the steaming mug in front of him.

Shachi focused on his impatient daughter and his uncomfortable new son. "Rize," he started.

"Yes, Papa?" Rize looked between the two male ghouls. She was unsure of where this conversation was going.

"Miharu is a One-Eyed ghoul. If anyone catches wind of this, they will want to use him. Or, for the more unseemly types, eat him." Shachi stated in a cold, matter-of-fact voice. Rize was the one who had brought the boy to his attention. Son of his deceased wife's family or not, Rize was responsible for the boy. He could not care for a child that was terrified of the mere sight of him.

Miharu stiffened at the direction of this new talk. He didn't want to be eaten, he had only just escaped the basement. He wanted to explore life, experience all that the world had to offer him.

"Papa?" Rize muttered, surprised. Her father wasn't the most outspoken with how much he cared about his family, but it was obvious with his actions. But, even this was surprisingly cold of him. Talking about the possible cannibalization of a boy sitting right next to him. A boy that he had claimed as family, as a son.

"You'll need to keep him safe and away from their eyes, alright Rize?" Shachi stared his daughter down. "His life is in your hands."

Rize blinked, but nodded towards her father. With that officially cleared up, Shachi calmly sipped at his coffee. Finishing quickly, he stood and walked to the kitchen. After he placed the mug in the sink, he turned back to the two that had been watching his actions in confusion.

"I will be back." He assured them, stalking to the door.

"Wait, Papa, where are you going!" Rize questioned, rushing to her feet. Her sudden movement jostled the table and Miharu frantically reached for the two mugs to make sure the hot liquid didn't spill on the clean floor.

"We were interrupted while hunting. Rize, I know how hungry you get. Watch Miharu and I will get more food." Rize reluctantly nodded at her father's words, frustrated with his vanishing act.

She turned to her new brother with a frown. Miharu, noticing her bad mood instantly, tilted his head in confusion. "It's not you, Miharu, Papa's always doing this. Running off to do this or that. It wasn't so bad when Mama was around, but ever since those Doves got her…" Rize shook her head, throwing off her thought process. She didn't want to think about it, not when she had a little brother to take care of.

"He is not around much?" Miharu questioned, cupping his hands around the warm mug. Deciding to risk it, he took a sip. Delighted at the taste, he took another, watching Rize over the rim.

"No, he leaves all the time. Today was supposed to be our monthly father-daughter hunt." She huffed. "Not that this is your fault, Miharu," she quickly back tracked. "This is actually the most he has spoken in a long time."

Miharu placed the empty mug down on the table as Rize slowly lowered herself back into a sit.

"Papa said that I need to protect you. But, I'm not as strong as he is yet, so how am I supposed to keep you a secret from everyone." She ran a frustrated hand through her hand, biting her lip. Tears prickled her eyes, already imagining what those perverted ghouls would do to her new little brother.

Miharu blinked at her worry. "My right eye, yes?" he confirmed. Rize thumped her head against the low table but nodded at his question. Miharu shrugged at her reaction, choosing his own solution. If the eye was the problem, he just needed to get rid of it.

He thought about using the mug or even his kagune, but figured the old fashion way would be easiest.

Without a word, he raised his left hand to his face. Caressing his check, his fingers crept up to his eye. Forcing back the reflex to close his lid, he positioned his digits around his green orb. Silently, he applied pressure. While generally numb to pain, he scrunched up his nose in visible discomfort.

Rize sighed in the silence, distress radiating from her slouched form. Miharu steeled his nerves.

He flexed his fingers, digging his nails into the gooey surface of his eyeball. He started to tear up and he huffed as the river of salt slipped down his check. Tightening his grip, he pushed his fingers farther into the socket. With a wet squish, the orb popped out of his skull. Dropping the eyeball to dangle, he reached back up to poke at the fleshy line connecting his eye to his brain. Snapping that easily, the detached orb fell into his waiting right hand. He absentmindedly rolled the ball around his fingers as his left hand stuffed the string of muscles back under the eyelid which had automatically closed after the extraction.

Rize sighed again, loudly, as if demanding attention. Miharu blinked his single remaining eye at her.

"Rize?" he called out to her. She immediately snapped up, her face settling into a closed eye smile.

"Don't worry, little brother, big sister has an idea." Rize puffed up her chest in pride.

"Here," Miharu stated, placing the displaced eye on the table right between the two of them, cutting into her self-important moment.

Rize blinked open her eyes to gaze at her brother in confusion. Noticing the closed eye immediately, she looked down at the table. The poison green eye looked back up at her.

Rize squeaked at the sudden sight. "Miharu, did you just…" Her voice was high in her disbelief.

"The eye was causing you distress. So, I got rid of it." His tone was calm, as if it was the obvious solution.

Rize rubbed her temple in exasperation. "Okay, Miharu, not only is that really creepy…" She struggled not to look back down at the table. She could practically feel the eye gazing at her dully. "But, it won't work."

She was right. Miharu could already feel the heat pooling behind his right eye, fixing the damage he had done.

"How annoying." Miharu allowed the words to slip through. Rize would agree with him. And while she did, she also sighed in exasperation. Her little brother was going to be a handful, she could already tell.

"You were on the right track though," she allowed. "You don't have a problem with pain?" She double checked, more for her own benefit than his. She didn't want to feel bad for what she was thinking of. But, if he could rip out his own eye because of her, then he could go through what she was planning.

Miharu shook his head at her question. The warmth had long since numbed most of his pain receptors in order to protect him from the chains and attacks and cold.

"Alright, do you trust me?" She looked him in his one eye. Feeling that his right eye was completely formed, Miharu lifted his lid so that she could see his total conviction. Gazing into both of his eyes, Rize nodded.

She stood up from the table and strode over to the bathroom door. Hearing her rummaging around, Miharu turned his attention back to the table. Or, more specifically, his eyeball.

He canted his head to the side, wondering for a moment. He hadn't thought about eyes when he was feeding off of Aunt and Uncle. Not that he would have wanted to feast off of their eyes. The thin one's eye looked like mud and the large one's always sparked with cruelty. He bet they would have tasted bad. Their organs were enough junk food for the six year old.

But, his green eye looked so much like that red haired woman's burning pair. He reached out, snatching back the orb. If Rize didn't want it, he would have it.

He stuck out his tongue curiously, licking along the curve. Disappointingly enough, the taste test did not reveal anything to Miharu. He pulled it away from his mouth and eyed it will hesitance. Rize was still digging around in the bathroom, but he wasn't sure how long she would be distracted with her idea. And the man made cannibalism sound bad. He didn't want perfectly good food to go to waste, but it was unlikely his new companions would eat his eye. Sneaking a look over at the bathroom, he popped the snack into his mouth.

Miharu rolled the eye around with his tongue for a moment. Still tasting nothing, he nudged the ball in between his teeth. Squishing down on the orb, his mouth exploded in flavor. Chewing a few more times, he swallowed the treat. Eyes gleaming in silent glee, he slipped his tongue over his lips. While he was unsure if the flavor burst was unique to his eye, he resolved to consume more the next time he had a chance to eat. Rummaging through the miscellaneous information he had gathered from _reaching_, he thought that the eye was much like an apple. Bland skin with a juicy inside. He wondered if it was as healthy as the fruit as well.

"Now, this is definitely going to hurt." Rize stated as she reentered the room. Miharu saw something pointy being carefully held in her right hand. "But, it will keep you safe, I guarantee it." Instead of returning to her side of the table, the older girl sat next to the boy, facing him. Miharu turned to face her as well, curious as to what she was planning.

Placing the pointy object on the table, which gleamed a strange bloody red, Rize plunked a single purple hair from her head. She quickly tested the strength and length before picking up the red needle once again. Slipping the hair through the eye, she tied it off. She held it delicately in her right hand, pointed at the younger boy.

Confused for a moment, she looked down at the table.

"Miharu, where's the eye?" Lowering the needle, she stared at her brother. He only blinked back her. When she refused to look away or continue with her solution, he silently opened his mouth. "Honestly, what am I going to do with you?" Mystery solved, as disturbing as the answer was, Rize readied the needle once again. "Don't scream." She ordered, pushing him to the floor.

Miharu obediently laid down as Rize crawled on top of him. He stared up at her as she conflicted with herself. She firmly placed her left hand on his thin shoulder to hold him steady.

"I can do this. For Miharu," she muttered softly. Deep breathes helped calm her nerves. The tip of the needle neared Miharu's newly healed eye. Still staring at her with his left eye, he lowered his right eyelid. He didn't even flinch as the sharp point tapped against his delicate flesh.

Red blossomed on his lower eyelid as the needle slipped into his skin. Rize let out a shaky breath as she twisted it upwards. She scrambled when it peaked out from his upper lid. Pulling, the thread went through, tugging slightly on the skin.

Miharu twitched when she went to circulate the needle through again, making the first visible stitch. Due to him lying down, the blood started to pool in his tear ducts. Already, he could feel the itch to blink. He struggled with his body's reaction, not wanting to interrupt Rize now that she was focused on her task.

The second visible stitch was made, accidently piercing through his covered eye as it went through. Miharu winced vocally, he had not expected his new eye to be so sensitive.

Rize paused, glancing down at her brother. While he wasn't squirming in pain, his discomfort was obvious. She offered a quiet apology and moved her hand from his shoulder to his check. He relaxed at her soothing touch. She swiftly pulled the thread through again.

Miharu could feel the heat already healing the damage. His skin closed up around the hair that was holding the lid shut, toughening the area so it would be harder for him to open the eye in the future.

A noise of distress left his lips when Rize finally reached the middle of his eye. But, her aim kept slipping, stabbing into the sensitive orb.

"You're alright, it's okay Miharu. Just a little bit longer. It'll be fine." She tried to calm him down, petting his cheek as gently as she could. "See, I'm almost done. It'll be fine. This way no one can hurt you, Miharu. Please, we're so close." She kept stitching, hoping that her words reassured the injured boy. He didn't move under her fingers, but the sound didn't stop. Rize's heart clenched. "I promise, Miharu, big sister will always be there to protect you, okay? So, put your trust in me." She begged the boy, leaning down to rest her head on his small chest. She started hiccupping, what she had just done catching up with her.

Realizing that she was done, Miharu's whine tampered off. The room was silent other than Rize's sniffles. Miharu reached up to prod at the snitches. They were uneven and amateur, but they would hide his human eye from any who got too curious. With his one remaining eye, he chanced a look at the girl on his chest. Her hands fisted his new shirt as she tried to calm her shaky breathing.

"Do you promise, Big Sister?" He spoke up. Startled, Rize sat up to look down at the one-eyed ghoul. He smiled sweetly back up her.

"Of course. Big sister will take care of you. You can count on that." She muttered. She watched him for a moment. The ridiculousness of the situation caught up with her, forcing her to erupt into giggles. Confused as to her reaction, Miharu hesitantly joined in her merriment.

Rize stood on wobbly legs, still chuckling slightly. She offered a hand to her brother and pulled him to his feet. Taking a second to pat him down, she stared at his snitched up eye. Without a word, she disappeared back into the bathroom.

Returning with a medical eyepatch, she fixed it around his head, nodding in approval at the sight.

"Wear this whenever you leave the house." She ordered. Not waiting for an answer, she turned to frown at the door. "Papa's still not back." She sighed. "But, it's well past your bed time, Miharu."

Miharu was confused. Bedtime was not a term that he was familiar with. Bed and time separately made sense, but what did the passage of moments have to do with furniture?

He stood still as Rize marched to the one door he had yet to see opened. Inside was a large amount of linen. His sister waved at him to help. He fumbled while attempting to set up the two beds, but Rize was patient with him.

When the two beds were ready for usage, Rize slipped in as Miharu stood uncertainly.

"Get in." She said, lifting the edge of her blanket to the boy. "Papa should have gotten you some pajamas." She complained, feeling the course material rub against her legs.

"Sorry," Miharu tried to shift back, away from her warm hug.

"Stop that, I'm just being a brat." She tugged him back into her embrace. "Sleep well, Miharu." She hummed, burying her face into his sweet smelling hair.

Miharu snuggled into the warmth that enveloped him. "Sleep well, Big Sister." He repeated.

He couldn't be happier with where he was. He had a big sister and a scary man that wanted to be his father. He could feel the red haired woman smiling in happiness.

Miharu fell asleep with a content grin on his face.

* * *

**(And that is how Miharu landed in Rize's care. What wondrous adventures will those two get into?)**

**(Still questioning how that became a sibling bonding moment instead of creepy mutilation.)**

**I didn't think I would get this done in four days. I was just throwing out a small number, but it happened anyway…I really hope you guys aren't expecting this to happen again? Cause, I was just so pumped by the large positive reaction that I couldn't not write the next chapter. **

**So many little things that need to be reaffirmed…**

**Okay, pairings. I am planning on having a shit ton of those. Like, hints everywhere. It's mainly so I can get a feel for which pairing I like writing the most. But, since someone, TheOnyxSnake, asked for Juuzo and Miharu, there will definitely be some of that. It might not be the final pairing though. There will be slash, femslash, and het. (Unfortunately, like many anime, there aren't as many strong women as men in Tokyo Ghoul. There are about four? Five? Yeah, not much to work with. However, the Harry Potter universe will come into play, eventually, with even more characters to play with. Harry's final pairing will be with a male from Tokyo Ghoul, though. I'm sorry if this offends anyone!)**

**(There is actually a lot of symbolism with the eyes. Left is usually associated with negative things, like the devil and such. So, that eye has the kakugan. Meanwhile, Miharu's right eye has his curse scar above it. The humanity of the right eye connects with his wizarding heritage. However, sewing his human eye closed symbolizes a shunning of his humanity. Man, I am deep.)**

**Rize and Shachi are fake names. Yes, they are. This connects with Audrea, and will eventually be explained. No, I will not be making up random names for them. Until canon tells us, their names are Rize and Shachi.**

**Miharu is fucked up. And touch deprived. And psychotic. (I could go on and on.) This will lead to funny, creepy, and plain interesting moments. I really can't wait to write them. **

**Anime vs. Manga. I will base most of the story off of the written versions. Manga and the HP books. However, there will be Anime and movie moments thrown in. If I get that far, of course. (There might even be a one-shot about what it would have been like if things had gone like in the anime.)**

**The kagune will be explained. Eventually. As will Miharu's minor obsession with Lily. (Though, that will only grow, to be completely honest.)**

**(Is it weird that I start grinning like a psychopath when the creepy scenes start? Cause I can't help it~)**

**Don't expect the next chapter anytime soon (and by soon, I mean within the next seven days). I'm going to a wedding for the weekend and I have assignments due later this week, so I have no time to work on this. Sorry!**


	3. Lay Your Weary Head to Rest

**It's been way too long. There wasn't any internet at the hotel, but I got a lot of writing done. Moral of the story; hotel's suck.**

**(Dammit, at this rate, Imma have to get a chair with how often I'm blushing in the corner. Gahhhhh)**

**On to more important things…It's the next chapter! I spent a good deal of time trying to figure out what to do this chapter, cause I'm not gonna go through 5 years of family bonding. So, I arranged the ending for a timeskip! I hope it flows well with the rest of the story...**

**We're slowly but surely getting to the Tokyo Ghoul plot~ Oh, I just can't wait. That's when Miharu really gets to be psychotic. My baby is growing up right in front of me. **

**I don't own Tokyo Ghoul or Harry Potter. **

* * *

Freak awoke to the sound of the door slamming closed. He flexed his arms, preparing for the shouting and a kick or two to his prone form.

A sleepy murmur responded to his action. Freak froze, baffled. He peeked his left eye open, his right refusing to move at all. Black shrouded his vision. But, he was warm, wrapped up in someone's arms, pulled close to their heart. He could hear their heart beating as he breathed in and out.

He blinked. Slowly, carefully, he unwrapped himself from the comfortable embrace. Sitting up on a soft surface that was so different from the concrete, Freak gazed down at the being sleeping next to him. She was older than him, dressed in comfortable black clothes. Her short purple hair spread around her head like a halo.

"Miharu." Freak turned to the voice, recognizing both the tone and the name. A large mustached man sat feet away from him, avoiding the soft blanket mattress to kneel on the floor.

That's right. He had escaped. He had been found by family that were freaks like him. He had been named.

Miharu tilted his head, his long braid swinging to drape across his shoulder. "Father," he greeted. The man still terrified him, but he was Big Sister's father. He deserved respect, especially for all that he had done for Miharu, allowing him in his house.

The man smiled gently at him, the look marred by the confused furrow of his deep brow. "Did you sleep well?"

Miharu did a quick evaluation of his body. His head still felt fuzzy, trying to wipe away the last remnants of sleep from his mind. For the first time ever, Miharu felt refreshed from resting. Usually there were aches and pains that the warmth patched up as he waited for one of the inhabitants to visit.

"Yes," Miharu confirmed. Another shifting of the blankets dragged his attention down to Rize. Shachi refrained from his next question at the signals of his daughter's awakening.

"Mhm, Miharu?" She muttered, clutching her hands to her chest where his head had been resting. Feeling nothing in her grasp, her eyes struggled to open.

"Big Sister," Miharu tried to reassure her, wanting the older child to appreciate sleep a little longer.

It did the opposite. Instead, Rize increased her efforts to wake up at the sound of his voice. After a moment or two, she blinked open her own purple orbs. Immediately latching onto the boy sitting next to her, she smiled up at him.

"I thought it was just a dream," she whispered. She sat up as well, tugging Miharu to lean against her. She ran her hand over his head softly. Miharu's eye fluttered at the warmth, so similar to the warmth that rested inside of him, that surrounded him at her embrace. He relaxed into her hold, sliding to rest his ear against her upper breast once again. He hummed along with the thump-thumping that rang in his mind.

"I'm glad the two of you are getting along," Shachi interrupted. Miharu felt Rize tense her hold at his voice.

"Papa, when did you get back?" His Big Sister's tone was strained, as if she was annoyed with his presence.

"Only a few minutes ago. I, unfortunately, woke Miharu up." Miharu closed his eye, just allowing the sounds of the apartment to lull him into a semi-conscious state. He couldn't fall back asleep when Rize was so high stung.

"You should have let him sleep." She muttered. Noticing that Miharu was lightly dozing against her, she shifted to the side to lean her back on the nearest wall. With her little brother safely curled up on her lap, she looked up to face her father.

He was silent for a moment, just watching the boy they had adopted only a few hours ago. "Rize, what happened to his eye?" His black eyes bore into her purple pair.

Miharu tightened his grip on her shirt when she tensed even further.

"It will protect him." She informed him, refusing to allow him to make her doubt herself.

"What did you do, Rize?" Shachi glared at his daughter, worry overridden by his anger.

"I did what you told me to, Papa." She sneered, pushing Miharu's head tighter against her breast.

"You mutilated him!" He snarled. Miharu shifted into Rize's arms at the increase in volume. They silenced themselves immediately, watching hesitantly as he stilled.

"His life is in my hands, isn't it?" She hissed. "What does it matter to you?"

"Don't test me, Rize."

"What would you have wanted me to do then?" She cried out, abandoning her attempts at being quiet. Miharu snapped his eyes open but did not move from his comfortable position. Listening would do him more good than interjecting. "You said that they would hurt him, if they knew what he was! I don't want to lose him, we just found him! I don't want to lose him like we did Mama!"

"You could have gotten him a mask! You could have trained him in controlling his kakugan! You could have done anything but this!" Shachi stood to bare down on his sitting daughter and the watching little boy.

"And if his mask fell off? And if he got too angry? He's just a little boy, Papa!" Rize looked up at him, begging with her eyes that he would understand her reasoning.

"Exactly, Rize! He's a little boy, so why did you do this to him?" Shachi's muscular figure cast an intimidating shadow over the pair. Rize tightened her hold on Miharu, a stifled sob slipping past her lips. Miharu reacted to her distress immediately

His kagune breached the flesh of his back, sliding under his clothes to lay in wait for the right moment to strike. With his face pressed into Rize's chest, he couldn't see what the appendages were doing, but he trusted his extra limbs to protect the two from the angry man.

Before the father and daughter duo even realized that Miharu was, in fact, awake for their argument, one of his kagune was wrapped threateningly around Shachi's throat. His other two limbs waved protectively around Rize, daring him to attack.

There was a moment of silence.

"Miharu, Papa wasn't going to hurt me." Rize stated, sniffling slightly at the previous argument. Shachi just watched the two interact. He wasn't worried about the kagune, seeing as the sharp side was definitely pointing outwards.

"He was angry." Miharu muttered into her shirt.

"That doesn't mean he would ever hurt me. Family doesn't hurt one another." She firmly stated, trailing her hand down to brush against his kakuhou sack. The tentacle around the older man's throat loosened slightly.

"You won't hurt Big Sister?" Miharu sat up on her lap in order to turn to face the father of their dysfunctional family. The man was frowning, eyebrow furrowed deeply, but he nodded at Miharu's question. The kagune dissipated, retreating back into the one-eyed ghoul's body to be used the next time he felt threatened.

"Miharu, violence is a last resort." Shachi warned. "It is not something to be used as a first response."

"Someone could hurt you if you wait." Miharu informed the stronger man. "I don't like being hurt."

Rize hugged Miharu closer to her. She didn't like the thought of him being hurt, the image of his chain scars still seared in her mind.

Shachi stared down at the boy. "Rize, take him out to get a mask. I'll go get scissors. When you return, I will remove those stitches."

Rize tried to protest, only to be shut down by a sharp look from her father. "Come on Miharu, get up. We need to get something to protect you."

"We sealed away the problem," he complained. However, he stood at her command. Rize levered herself up, dusting down the front of her shirt once she was on her own two feet.

"Papa doesn't like the idea of you being hurt, Miharu." Rize told him as she walked over to the linen closet. "So, we need to get you a mask." She started undressing, changing from her soft black clothes into lighter colors. Miharu tilted his head as he watched. The white sun dress looked good on his Big Sister.

"Behave yourself around the humans." Shachi reminded his children.

"Don't worry, Papa, I'll teach Miharu everything he needs to know. Clean up the bed for us, okay?" Rize smiled cheekily at her father as she slipped on a white bandana.

"Rize…" Shachi trailed off.

"We'll be careful, I promise." She reassured him. Shachi only frowned heavily at her. "Let's go, Miharu."

"Of course, Big Sister." He responded, following behind her as she marched to the front door of the apartment. He paused before passing over the threshold to look back at Shachi. "We will be back soon, Father." He didn't wait for the older man's reply and stepped out into the sunlight.

He was blinded for a moment. It was so bright, Miharu's remaining eye burned. He whined, cupping his right hand over his left eye.

"You okay, Miharu?" he heard Rize ask. He barely refrained from flinching when a hand was suddenly placed on his shoulder.

"Bright." He hissed, slowly lowering his hand. He attempted to open his eye, blinking frantically.

"Of course it's bright, silly," Rize giggled, sliding her hand from his shoulder to his wrist. Gently wrapping her fingers around his scars, she tugged his disoriented form over to the stairs. "We have a lot to do, so we shouldn't dawdle."

"Dim the light," he complained.

"We can't dim the sun, Miharu," Rize scoffed. Miharu pouted, frustrated with the blinding light that seared his eye. It was far too bright. He didn't understand how others dealt with this every day.

With Rize pulling his along, it took Miharu a few minutes to adjust to the sunlight. Once he felt that it was safe, he blinked his eye open to take in the strange new sights.

"It's beautiful," he murmured. A whole new world was opened up to him. Things that he had only seen in his _reaches_ were suddenly in front of him. There were people and cars and trees and air and the sun. The sun that burned his eye but was so warm, like the warmth that bubbled inside him and the warmth that Rize emulated. The world outside of his gray and cold room was so warm.

Miharu made awkward eye contact with a woman across the street. Curious, he _reached_ out to her.

_Impatience_

_Worry_

_Concern_

_Fear_

_I need to get home- Hiro is waiting- Matsuki has been coming home late- cheating on me- our son- what should I make for dinner- ghouls- little boy staring- why is he staring- wearing no shoes- strange little boy-_

Miharu looked away.

"Where are we going?" He asked his sister, shifting in her grip so that he could intertwine their hands like the two people next to them were doing. It looked comfortable to Miharu.

Rize smiled down at him. "We need to get you more clothes."

"Shoes?" He wondered, thinking of the woman.

"Shoes? What do you mean?" Rize shifted her glaze slightly to stare at his bare feet. "You're…not wearing shoes." She furrowed her brows. "Okay, first things first, you need shoes." Rize paused, glancing around the shops that lined the street.

Miharu blinked up at her. Were shoes that important?

"There we go," she noted, speed walking towards their new destination. Miharu almost tripped trying to keep up with the tugging on his hand.

They marched into the shop and Rize made a beeline for the shoe section, by passing racks of costumes. Miharu slipped his hand out of her grasp to stare at the colorful outfits. He stood among the racks for a moment, just taking it all in. He never knew there were so many different colors.

"Do you need any help, little boy?" A teenager, older than Rize, smiled condescendingly down at him. Miharu stared up at the older woman. He hummed for a moment, checking around them quickly. No one was near them, or at least, not close enough to hear them.

"I need a mask." Miharu directed his attention towards her eyes, _reaching_.

_Confusion_

_Anxiety_

_Fear_

"Do you have any masks?" He continued, hoping to direct her thoughts.

_Little boy- masks- ghoul? Little boy ghoul? So young- what a monster- contact CCG- don't let him know- smile, Miho, just smile- such green eyes-_

"Yes, we have masks. Right this way." She waved her hand towards an Employees Only door. Miharu tilted his head to the side innocently, but broke his gaze and followed her to the door. Rize was still at the shoes, so he had a few minutes to get what he needed and return to her side.

She opened the door, waving him in before her. Inside, there was a small hallway with three doors.

"Which door?" He spun around to face her, locking eyes again.

_Which door? Which one is strong enough?- have to lock him in- the furthest door is an exit- the left is merchandise – the right is the staff room- which one? He's looking at me- I don't want to die- Please Kami, oh please_

"Thank you for your help." Miharu muttered, breaking their connection once again. Even without _reaching_, her fear was obvious to the younger boy. Knowing that killing her would only bring more attention to him, Miharu petitioned to the warmth that waited inside him.

Make her forget, he asked. Make her forget about me and leave.

The warmth, ever eager to help, reacted immediately. Just as he had done moments before, the warmth _reached_, twisting the teenager's mind to suit his needs. With glazed eyes, she stumbled out the room, not looking back a single time. Miharu could faintly hear Rize calling his new name as the door clicked shut.

Instead of returning to her side, Miharu turned to the left door. Nudging the door open, he mentally tapped the warmth once again.

Find me a mask, he told it. With the continued obedience of the force inside him, Miharu was becoming confident in his abilities.

The warmth purred at his order, buzzing along his skin. Unlike with _reaching_, the power did not interact with the outside world at his request. It just continued to skim the surface of his body. Slowly, the warmth concentrated on his hands. Its temperature increased, making Miharu almost take back his request. But, something started forming in his small hands.

The surface was a light green, like the petals of a flower. Miharu likened the shape to a mascaraed mask, something that the thin inhabitant had bought once for a business party. However, there was only a hole for his left eye. In place of the right eye hole was a large lily. It was orange and branched off from the mask, reaching into the air. Lines of red twined into the orange lily, resembling veins of blood.

Miharu stared at the warmth's creation in awe. In the middle of the dark supply room, the mask seemed the faintly glow the same poisonous green as his eyes. Feeling the warmth's eager urging, he delicately placed the lily mask on his face. Immediately, the warmth latched onto its work, sticking it to his face.

The young one-eyed ghoul felt invincible with the gift covering his features. He wanted to show Rize right away.

He heard the Employee's Only door open. Two voices were arguing, Rize and the young woman who let him in.

Frantically, the warmth reabsorbed the mask, allowing his surprised face to be seen by the two woman who entered the room.

"Miss, I doubt your brother would be in here! I just left this room, and there was no little boy with me!" The teenage attendant tried to reassure his sister.

"I checked the rest of store already! He has to be in here!" Rize huffed angrily.

"Maybe he left the store? Little boys are rather adventurous." The older woman attempted to reason.

"Miharu wouldn't leave without me!" Rize snapped back.

"Big Sister," Miharu called out. Rize spun around, her dress flaring with her movement.

"Miharu, there you are! Don't run off without me, I was so worried!" Rize shouted, throwing herself at the smaller boy. He blinked in shock as the warmth buzzed with amusement.

"I was curious," Miharu lied, watching intently as the attendant gapped at him.

"Promise me you won't do that again!" Rize muttered into his thin shoulder.

He blinked at her. He didn't answer, the warmth whispering a warning about promises to him. Rize didn't seem to mind his lack of response.

"I told you that he was in here." She snipped, straightening herself out.

"But I was-" Rize had stopped listening, turning toward her brother instead.

"Here are your shoes, Miharu!" she chirped, shoving a pair of sneakers into his hands. At her look, he obediently slipped them on. "Well, how do they feel?"

He scrunched up his face in distaste but shrugged. They felt restraining, blocking off the sensation of feeling the world around him. But, Big Sister had spent time and money on them, so Miharu resigned himself to the displeasure of wearing them.

Rize laughed at his expression. "Don't worry, when we get back home, you can take them off." She assured him, pulling him out of the back room and back into the store. The attendant followed, sputtering in confusion. Rize ignored her. "I also bought you more clothes, including pajamas." She lifted the three bags hanging from her arms. "So, we just need to get you one more thing."

"No need." Miharu informed her once they left the store, and the attendant, behind.

Rize blinked down at him in confusion. "Oh?"

Miharu glanced left and right, checking their surroundings. Seeing an alley only a few feet in front of him, he walked leisurely to the entrance, stepping into the darkness with barely anyone giving him a second look. Rize followed his example with an annoyed huff.

Since she was behind him, Rize was unable to see the mask that slowly formed on top of his face at his command. The warmth was more than happy to rematerialize its creation. Once it was firmly on his face, Miharu turned to Rize.

She took in the mask the decorated his face with awe. While no one in her family had ever used a mask, Miharu's truly was beautiful. She reached out and slipped it off his face, tucking it away into one of the bags of clothes.

"A lily," she mused as his face was revealed once again. "It fits, you smell like one, after all." She admitted to him.

"I do?" he questioned, frowning. If he smelled like a lily, then had Big Sister's mother smelled like a lily as well?

"It's settled. We'll call you Sayuri around other ghouls. That should protect you even further! No one will connect Miharu with Sayuri," Rize smiled happily. With this, there was no way the CCG would take Miharu away too. She refused to lose another family member to humans.

Miharu repeated the additional name, testing it out. He nodded to himself, satisfied with how it formed on his lips.

"It seems we're done with our errands then," Rize sighed unhappily. "Now we need to go back to base."

"What's wrong?" Miharu asked as they continued to travel down the alley.

"It's nothing," Rize covered. "Ah, but I should tell you some things now that we have the chance." She mused. "As ghouls in a world that is ruled by humans, there are some things that we have to do to hide among the livestock." She started.

Miharu glanced around the alley, noticing how no one else was on the path.

"We need to be the wolves in sheep's clothing at all times, hiding behind smiles and kindness when the sun is shining. Only when darkness reigns can we shed the mask that we hide behind. That is why Papa and I don't wear masks like most ghouls. We wear one every day, why should we do so when we can finally unleash ourselves? However, Papa still has rules to make sure that we aren't killed by the CCG or the less savory ghouls. Right now, we're in the 11th Ward. Every time we move, Papa makes sure that we know the ghoul friendly areas. That is where we are to go if anything happens to Papa."

Miharu thought that it was a strange plan. After all, Shachi was strong, there was no doubt about that. There couldn't possibly be someone in the world stronger than him.

"Ghouls are actively hunted by the CCG, the Commission of Counter Ghoul, which exists with the sole purpose of destroying all of us. They are paid to kill us and they find joy in it. If a human ever finds a ghoul, they will report them to the CCG. And they will die. Just because of what we were born as, we need to die." Rize's voice became sad. "The CCG killed Mama."

Miharu was silent, waiting for the mystery of Big Sister's mother to unravel itself.

"Mama got in a fight with another ghoul, named Romeo by the CCG. He was a ghoul that preyed solely on young woman, luring them away with promises of love. Mama didn't agree with his habit of stringing their corpses up on top of their houses. Killing a human was fine to her, but tormenting their parents' with the death of their child rubbed Mama the wrong way. Mama interrupted him when he was about to feed, allowing the girl to escape. And, even though Mama saved her life, the girl informed the CCG about what she looked like. They didn't catch Romeo, but they did find Mama. All that was left of her by the time Papa and I found her was shards of her rinkaku. Of course, Papa and I hunted down the girl and Romeo, laying their corpses out on the streets. We sent them a message that day." Rize grinned sadistically.

Miharu didn't say anything, merely watching his Big Sister.

"We even killed the Dove that dared to use her kagune as a quinque." Rize took a breath and started walking once again. Miharu trailed beside her. "Family protects each other, Miharu. Even if they're dead, we protect their memory and their honor. Okay?" he nodded.

The rest of the walk back was quiet, Rize lost in her memories and Miharu lost in his thoughts.

"We're back," Rize called out once they returned to the apartment. Remembering her previous words, Miharu kicking off his shoes with a happy sigh. Rize giggled at his reaction.

"That didn't take very long." Shachi noted, slipping a cup of coffee at the low table.

"Miharu found a mask himself," Rize explained, taking the aforementioned mask out of a bag. She passed it over to him with a smile. Miharu ignored the exchange, flopping down to sit at the table. Huffing, he rubbed his aching feet. Walking was so tedious to the young boy.

Shachi flipped the mask around in his hands. He immediately noticed the faint glow, but, knowing what it was, looked passed it. "Beautifully crafted." He complimented, passing it back to Miharu. The younger boy nodded in thanks. "Now, about those stitches." He started

Rize stiffened as Miharu placed the mask down on the table. The warmth desperately wanted to reabsorb the material, but Miharu was hesitant to show just how freakish he was. Shachi and Rize had only mentioned the heat, after all. Maybe the warmth was some new level of freakiness?

"You can't cut it." Rize burst out. Shachi turned a sharp look at her, but she refused to be cowed. "I stitched it with my hair, Papa. You would need to use your kagune to break it, and that could kill Miharu." Rize fretted, lowering herself to sit across from her brother.

Shachi frowned. "I will use a shard then."

"I won't let you." Miharu spoke up. Rize's astonished look only spurred him on. "You said One-Eyed Ghouls are hunted. I refuse to be prey, no matter what. This is my decision."

"As your father, I should take those stitches out," Shachi informed his adopted son. "As a man, I should respect your resolve. I am at an impasse."

"Then turn a blind eye." Miharu suggested, the warmth pushing him to keep the stitches in. The heat rushed through him, boosting his confidence. With both forces at his fingertips, he wasn't afraid of the large man. At least, not at the moment. "You put me in Big Sister's care. Will you go back on your words?"

Shachi was silent, taking in Miharu's dull gaze and Rize's wide grin. Already, the two were ganging up on him, like proper siblings. He knew this comradery could only spell headaches for him in the future.

He sighed. "Very well." Rize smiled at the younger boy, victorious. "However, I reserve the right to remove the stitches should I see any negative effects." Shachi warned the children.

He was ignored as Rize happily chatted with Miharu, contemplating how they should change his appearance during hunts.

But, he was happy that Rize was happy. She had been so angry after Audrea's murder, swearing vengeance on all who wronged their family. Maybe Miharu would distract her.

He watched as Miharu allowed her to detangle his hair with barely a twitch of his expression.

Or, maybe Miharu would help her. In her defense, he shoved aside his fear of the older man.

Either way, Shachi hoped that the peace would last and that his family would remain happy for as long as possible.

Remembering his wife's stories, Shachi watched the two children

Five years, that's all they would have.

Five years of peace and happiness, then it would all be taken away.

Shachi hoped that they made the best of the next few years. He wouldn't be able to stop the Magical World from knocking on his doorstep, calling for his new son. All he could do is teach him how to survive in the cut throat world that threatened to destroy them every day.

* * *

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! (The next one is far more interesting, I promise. More blood and tentacles.)**

**However, ****starting Wednesday, Imma be doing an April Song Challenge with some of my friends. Every day, I'll be uploading a one-shot based on a song. Each one shot will be for a different fandom, though some overlap a little bit. This will be for the entire month of April and **_**will**_** affect me when updating. This story will still be updated, but it will take longer than a few days. I hope everyone is understanding of this and enjoys the one shots!**

**Now, some little tidbits of information…**

**Sayuri means Orange Lily – an orange lily means hatred and revenge. This will be what Ghouls and the CCG calls Miharu, at least until Miharu chooses to inform them of his name. Just like Shachi is called by a fake name instead of his 'real name' (Matasaka) or a name based on his actions (Orca). (Or like how a lot of people, CCG and Ghouls, only know Kaneki as Eyepatch or Centipede).**

**The importance of the lilies will be brought even further, but it's something to remember.**

**Some facts about Audrea has been revealed. She was killed by the CCG and has influenced Rize's hatred of humans, which Miharu only helped with, considering how he was treated for the last five years. **

**Shachi is a ghoul that is ruled by honor, this is cannon. Miharu notices and uses this against him to get what he wants.**

**(For a boring chapter about exposition, a lot of this is important stuff.)**

**Till next time!**


	4. Don't You Cry No More

**I'm really sorry for the long wait! I might have stretched myself a little thin this month. With the song challenge, my regular stories, and my finals, I'm floundering a little bit. **

**SO, I've put the challenge on hold! I'll probably get back to it eventually. More information about that is on my profile, if anyone cares. **

**But, enough about that! The next chapter is finally out, after waiting for so long~**

**I lied! This chapter is another information dump, sadly with nothing creepy. There was going to be something bloody, but I restructured the chapter during the long break and decided to do that scene next chapter. It makes this chapter flow so much nicer. **

**I don't own Tokyo Ghoul or Harry Potter. **

* * *

"Big Sister," Miharu murmured, watching the fifteen year old purple haired girl wrapped her arm with gauze.

During the years of living with the Kamishiro's, Miharu had adjusted to his new life easily. It wasn't normal like what he had seen during his _reaches_, but he loved it all the same. Once a mouth, the family of three would go hunting together, tracking down whatever poor soul ended up in an alleyway that Shachi chose.

During his first hunt, one month after joining the father and daughter, Shachi had turned it into an impromptu lesson about being a ghoul. He pointed out different parts of the prey's body that tasted the best and which prey would have the best meat. They made sure to hunt down three meals, one for each of them. Usually, Shachi went out of his way to find a fourth, due to Rize's insatiable hunger.

One night, he muttered to Miharu that he didn't know where she got it from, but her mother was always hungry during the pregnancy. (Rize had not been happy when she had to explain what pregnancy was to him the next day. It led to another argument when Shachi returned.)

Even though there were now two children under his care, Shachi still disappeared all hours of the day. Sometimes he would be with them when they went to bed and gone when they woke up. Other times he would leave for a walk and not come back for days at a time. Miharu didn't mind when he left, the air was a lot less tense. While Miharu was slowly adjusting to the man's overbearing aura, he still twitched at Shachi's slightest movement towards him. Rize had tried to scold him for the habit, but gave up at his fear filled eyes. He just couldn't help it. The heat and warmth inside him snarled at the larger man, telling him to flee if he wanted to live.

In the five years they have been together, the three of them have bounced around the Wards of Tokyo. Having started in the 11th Ward, they were currently setting up base in the 6th. Miharu never cared where exactly they were, but Rize grew more and more annoyed with her father every time they moved. She claimed that Shachi was running away from their problems, fleeing like a coward. She would wonder to Miharu where her strong father went. Miharu thought that he was still so very strong. Not even Rize's disagreeing could change his mind about that.

Rize smiled faintly at her brother. "I'm fine, Miharu. It's just a cut." Miharu frowned at her silently. Like usual, Rize had gotten hungry before the scheduled hunt. So, also like usual, she went to get herself a snack, leaving Miharu to hold down the fort all alone. Only to return covered in blood; human, ghoul, and her own.

"Let me go with you," he demanded. At least if Miharu went with his sister, he could help protect her. He hated not being able to do anything as she came back each day injured. He hated it so much. He wanted to get stronger.

"You know I can't do that, Miharu," Rize frowned over at him. "If there was even a chance that they might find out about you…" She gritted her teeth. If someone so much as thought about hurting Miharu, she would rip them apart with her kagune. Screw her father's pacifistic teachings.

Miharu huffed. He wasn't locked away in a basement, but he felt a little caged. A cage made from love, but a cage none the less.

"Please don't give me that look Miharu," Rize pleaded. "We just want you to be safe, you can understand that, can't you?"

He could understand. If given the chance, Miharu knew he would trap his sister inside their base, lock her in with him. Anything to keep her safe. But, he valued her love of freedom too much to restrain her like that.

That didn't mean he was happy.

"Aw, don't give me the silent treatment!" Rize whined. Miharu smirked, but kept his lips locked together. "You're so mean, Miharu!"

He quietly snickered at his sister's pout. It had taken awhile for Miharu to warm up so much, but Rize's constant attention did help him adjust to the world outside of his basement.

Miharu would always be thankful to her and Shachi.

"You're breaking my heart!" she moaned melodramatically. Her uninjured arm clutched at her chest as she swooned, her injured arm thrown over her face.

Miharu barked out a laugh at her play.

Rize peeked over at her little brother. His look of pure glee made her smile. He was generally such a serious child. Rize had never seen an eleven year old child, human or ghoul, spend so much time frowning. She cherished these moments when he let his guard down around her. She just wished that he would act more child-like around Papa.

She knew that the older man worried about the boy. Shachi had long since accepted Miharu as his second child. But, Miharu was still so cautious. The two could only assume his attitude was connected to the past he refused to explain in detail.

"What have I done to deserve just a cruel baby brother?" she continued. Miharu's laughter increased, amused by her antics.

Their fun was interrupted by a knock at the door. They quieted immediately. Rize was dismayed to see a blank face replace her brother's joy.

The visitor knocked again, impatient.

The siblings exchanged a look. The only person who ever came through that door was Shachi and he never knocked.

On the one hand, it might be a human, a new neighbor.

Or, it might be a Dove, who had somehow hunted them down.

Miharu had yet to meet the Ghoul Investigators, having been protected so thoroughly by his new family, but he had heard stories. Stories of ghouls that were hunted down, ghouls that were captured, ghouls that were torn apart like animals so that the humans could create weapons from their corpses.

Miharu wanted so badly to teach them what it was like to have their limbs torn off and used to beat their brethren. However, he knew his limits. He was a child, as powerful as he was, and they were trained adults.

One day though, one day he swore to kill them all.

He would not stand for anyone that could hurt Big Sister and Father existing in this world

"I'll get it," Rize muttered, having watched her little brother's face darken. She knew that he was preparing himself for a fight. But, Rize had not been coming home injured for nothing. If Papa was too busy to train her properly, Rize would hunt down her fellow ghouls for practice. It didn't matter to her if they lived or died in the end. She just needed to be strong enough to protect her so so small family. She refused to be a victim, not again. She would be the predator, someone to be feared by all. All but her baby brother, of course.

She stood, inching hesitantly towards the door. Rize took a steadying breath once she was in front of the entrance.

There was a third set of knocks, startling Rize into throwing open the door.

"Ah, hello Miss?" the human on the other side of the threshold questioned, blinking in surprise.

"Do you need something, sir?" Rize asked politely. Her tight grip on the handle was the only sign of her unease. Miharu eyed the stranger from the shadows.

"Oh, is your father home?" the man smiled benignly at the girl. Rize narrowed her eyes.

If her father was bringing trouble to their doorstep, where Miharu was supposed to be safe, she would yell his damn ears off. Or flee. See how he likes it when they're nowhere to be found for days at a time.

"Papa's not here right now. Maybe I can leave him a message?" Rize smiled thinly up at the smartly dressed man. She wanted so badly to slam the door in his face. But, that would be rude and a bad influence on Miharu.

"That's okay. I'm here to talk about your brother anyway." Rize reacted immediately.

She whipped her arm out and grabbed with man's wrist. With a quick glance around, she tugged him into the apartment. The man, strangely enough, acted as if this reaction was normal and just looked around the room. Once he saw Miharu lurking in a corner, he smiled benignly.

"You must be Miharu," he greeted. "My name is Toshiro Natsuki. I have to say, you're very far from home." Miharu only frowned heavily at the professional looking man. Thankfully, he had taken the time during the knocking to slip on his eyepatch, covering his sealed eye from the inquisitive stare of the older man.

"And just what the hell do you mean by that?" Rize hissed after she finished locking the door. Spinning around to face the man, Miharu could see that she was straining not to reveal her status as a ghoul. The flickering red and black would be unnerving if he hadn't seen it so many times before.

"Don't mind me, Miss," Toshiro smiled. "I am a Ministry Official, here to speak with Miharu about his future at our prestigious school."

Rize glared at the man. "I homeschool Miharu and he is learning everything that he needs to here." She crossed her arms to emphasize her point.

"Well, this is awkward," Toshiro chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head. "We had been in contact, briefly, with Mr. Kamishiro, so we had assumed that the two of you knew what was going to happen. An oversight on our part, I apologize."

"Papa?" the young girl hissed. "What has he kept from us this time?"

"Let's have a chat over a cup of coffee," Toshiro suggested. "I read that ghouls can actually drink coffee, though I wonder if there's any of human substances you can consume. It's rather fascinating what we still don't know about your species." The man's voice didn't even waver when one of Rize's kagune stretched out, stopping right in front of his eye.

"You have a rather pretty rinkaku," he complimented the purple haired teenager. Her other three tentacles flared out behind her, a little cramped in the small room, but still threatening. "Four? How rare. But, it seems you are truly Audrea Potter's daughter." The man wasn't fazed at all with being trapped in an apartment with his nature predator. Rize growled lowly at his mention of her Mama.

"What the hell do you know about that?" Rize was ignored as Toshiro focused on the silent boy off to the side.

"You go by the name Miharu now, don't you?" he asked the child.

"Miharu is Miharu," the eye patched ghoul confirmed. Now that the man's attention was on him, Miharu took the opportunity to _reach_, wanting to know what this man wanted before he got rid of the threat he presented.

_Looks just like her- Lady Potter- Powerful- England- Hogwarts and the blasted prejudice- Safety- Harr- Oh? What is this? How interesting._

Miharu cried out as the tendril of warmth was slapped away from the man's mind, just as he was finding something interesting. He sank to the floor, gripping at his head with both hands as a horrible headache flared up.

Rize cried out with him, confused as to what the man had done. But, she was unwilling to leave her spot to assist her precious little brother. A second appendage whipped towards Toshiro, wrapping around his throat and squeezing.

"What the fuck did you do?" Rize took a step forward as the man gasped in pain. She glanced at Miharu briefly when he was silent again. A single red on black eye locked on to her purple pair. While there were now slight indents of his nails in Miharu's forehead, there were no other injuries to be seen.

Miharu shivered once Rize's glare went back to Toshiro. The powerful warmth was burning under his skin, angry at the man's defense. He felt the warmth's desire to _reach_ again, to show him more of what the man had hidden inside his head. However, he flinched when the energy tentatively stretched, feeling a tight pain building up inside his skull again.

"Another oversight," Toshiro acknowledged. "Being who you are, we should have expected that you would be powerful. But, even I didn't expect you to be able to perform Legilimency, Miharu. It's a difficult Art, requiring years of practice." Rize tightened her kagune's grip when she was ignored once again.

"Answer my damn question, asshole!" she shouted, visibly shaking.

Toshiro's persistent smile finally dimmed into a frown at her exclamation. "Young ladies really shouldn't swear so much," he admonished. The next movement caused Miharu to freeze in shock. He knew that Rize wasn't the strongest ghoul out there, but this was something completely different.

He felt something similar to his warmth glide down Toshiro's arm and pool around his hand, mainly centered on a jeweled ring that looked so out of place on the man. He merely flicked his ringed finger upwards and a red flash cut through Rize's kagune.

It was only through experience and sheer stubbornness that Rize didn't scream in pain. Those jaunts around the Ward were good for something, in the end.

"Now," Toshiro continued, confident that the threat of asphyxiation dealt was with for the time being. "Can we sit down and talk this out like adults?"

Hesitantly, Rize nodded, backing up towards the low table. She refused to take her eyes off of the strange man that wanted her brother. Miharu, listening to the bubbling of the warmth, did not give Toshiro the same respect, merely walking to Rize's side.

Toshiro's eyes narrowed behind his smile at their actions.

The siblings sat next to each other, needing the comfort of each other's presence. Miharu leaned into Rize's clutches as she tried to mold his smaller form into her side.

Toshiro settled himself down across from the duo.

"I'm sure both of you have a lot of questions," he started.

"No," Miharu finally spoke up.

Toshiro blinked in surprise. "Oh?"

"You want to take me away. I refuse." At Miharu's words, Rize snarled, pulling him closer to her. Her kagune, still released and now fully healed, flared up once again.

"No need for that Miss," Toshiro's voice was cold as he lifted his ringed hand to face Rize.

As curious as Miharu was of the non-sentient warmth he could feel inside of the man, he could not allow such a blatant threat towards Big Sister go unanswered.

"If you hurt Big Sister again, I will kill you."

Toshiro's immediately lowered his arm. He stared at Miharu's single eye, taking in his conviction. "Sa, this is more work than I was thought." He hummed for a moment. "But, maybe this will help!"

The man reached into his pocket. Miharu felt Rize tense, as if expecting him to pull out a weapon. He refrained from giving her a look. The weapon was obviously the ring, as long as Miharu kept his attention on that, Rize would be okay.

He pulled out a cellphone with an exaggerated flourish. "If I call Mr. Kamishiro, will the two of you finally calm down and listen to reason?"

Rize's lips were pursed, but she nodded in agreement. The room was quiet other than the loud sound of ringing as they waited for Shachi to answer.

There was an answering click.

"What's wrong, Natsuki?" Shachi's familiar voice questioned.

"It's nothing really, Mr. Kamishiro. Your children don't seem to trust me and your lack of presence isn't helping matters." Toshiro grinned at the two children who stared at the phone in bewilderment. They had not been expecting Shachi to know the man by name.

"Rize. Miharu." Shachi commanded their attention. The two children straightened up at his tone. "Everything Natsuki says is the absolute truth."

"But, Papa-!" Rize tried to cut in. Shachi was having none of that, however.

"No, Rize. Listen to him. I'll be home later tonight and we can talk it over then."

Shachi hung up, leaving the trio sitting around the table silently.

"Well, you heard the man," Toshiro stated, snapping his flip phone closed in finality. "Will you listen to what I have to say now?"

Neither child answered, merely stared at him blankly. Toshiro did not falter at their lack of response. If anything, his smile widened.

"As I stated, I am a Ministry official, here to speak with Miharu about his future." He started. "As I'm sure you know, Miss, Miharu was not born in Japan, which makes this a little tricky. He was born in England and should they realize that he is here, they will take him away. Forever."

"I won't let them!" Rize shouted angrily.

"Yes, well, if you try to stop them, they will kill you." He informed her. Miharu's poison green eye locked onto his gray pair. "That seems to have gotten your attention," he mused for a moment. "England is rather backwards. In fact, most of the European Magical Community is."

"Magical?" Miharu asked once he realized Rize was too surprised to speak.

Toshiro nodded at the question. "You're a wizard, Miharu." The boy in question froze at his words. "Man, I have always wanted to say that."

"Wizard?" Rize snapped. "Now I know you're messing with us. If this is some kind of joke, it's sick and I will have none of it!"

"I assure you, Miss, I am being one hundred percent truthful. Plus, didn't Mr. Kamishiro already vouch for me?" the man waved his phone in emphasis.

"This could be another training exercise. Something like 'don't trust strangers, no matter what,'" Rize stubbornly stuck to her denial.

Miharu remembered the warmth in the man pooling around his ring and how, for the first time ever, he was stopped while _reaching_.

"The warmth." Miharu said, interrupting Toshiro's and Rize's snipping.

"What, Miharu?" Rize questioned, turning to look down at her brother.

"You're talking about the warmth. I can feel it, it's buzzing around your ring. It feels different from my warmth, so much duller."

"Warmth? I've never heard magic being described like that. Usually people associate it with a tingle or even a taste. I met a wizard who could smell his magic, but this is something new," Toshiro acknowledged.

"What are you talking about, Miharu?" Rize's wide eyes were focused solely on Miharu. He tried not to wince. There were reasons he had not told her about the warmth and the woman, in all of the five years he had lived with his new family. He trusted and loved both of them, but they never mentioned the warmth. Miharu didn't want to be a freak again, he enjoyed his new name and his sister and this strange happiness.

"…sorry, Big Sister," he muttered.

"But, you are right," Toshiro continued, skillfully ignoring the family drama in front of him. "I use my magic through this ring here. The stone on the ring depends on the aspect of the magic and how powerful the wizard is. Most magic users have more than one ring and more than one stone, but it all depends on what subject they specialize in. I can see, however, that you don't really need one, do you?" He lifted his hand, turning it to reveal the entire ring to the siblings.

The ring's base was copper, the metal dull under the light of the overhead light. However, the gem was what really caught Miharu's attention. The stone was a glossy pink, fitted into a small square in the copper. It hummed quietly as he gazed at it, fascinated.

"What stone is that?" Rize asked, noticing Miharu's inattention. "I don't recognize it."

"I'm not surprised. Rhodonite isn't really well known by muggles." Toshiro shrugged, embarrassed. "But, rhodonite is one of the most common stones used by wizards. It's wonderful at conducting spells, even if it's not the most powerful stone out there." Toshiro waved his hand towards the table in front of him. Before the eyes of one astonished girl and one curious boy, he transfigured it into a Western bed, complete with blankets and a pillow. "It's perfect for transfigurations and charms."

"Miharu can do this kind of stuff?" Rize asked, reaching out to tap the bed cautiously.

"If he comes with me and learns at our school," Toshiro confirmed.

"I don't need help," Miharu stated firmly. "I can do what I need to just fine."

"Miharu, if you don't get proper training, your magic could lash out and hurt those around you," Toshiro informed the younger boy.

Miharu merely reached up and placed his hand over his eyes, pushing the eyepatch aside. The warmth automatically did his bidding, having gotten used to the non-verbal command.

From under his hand, a light green membrane formed. Toshiro watched as it consumed the top half of the boy's face. Once the bottom layer was secure, an orange addition oozed into existence, shaping itself immediately. The orange reached up, passing the rest of the green base, brushing against the boy's black hair. It barely took twenty seconds, but when Miharu removed his hand, a familiar mask was revealed to the two other people in the apartment.

"Conjuration? My, that is impressive." Toshiro laughed, shocked.

"So, that's where…" Rize muttered. A light of recognition suddenly burned in her purple eyes. "That's why Papa never asked where it came from! He knew!"

Miharu blinked and the mask shattered, the pieces crumbling to nothing as the energy was released. He grabbed the eyepatch and slipped it back over to cover his stitched eye. Miharu made sure to ignore Toshiro's inquisitive stare. As long as the man didn't ask about it, Miharu wouldn't react.

"Yes, your father has known for years," Toshiro confirmed. Miharu wondered if he knew just how much trouble he was getting Shachi into with his teenage daughter. The widening of the man's smile made the boy think he did. "Audrea Potter informed him right after their marriage, after all. But, Miharu." He quickly changed the subject before Rize could ask the man about her murdered mother. "Even if you are exceptional at magic already, there are some things that you can't learn from instinct."

"It's not instinct," Miharu insisted. "The Woman in Red tells me about it."

"Woman in Red? You couldn't mean…" Toshiro muttered before shaking his head. "That's not important. Since you were not born here, if you don't attend the Imperial Court, you are subject to be kicked out of the country."

"What?" Rize shrieked, throwing herself into a stand. Since Miharu was leaning against her side, once she stood, he flopped onto his side. He huffed from his undignified position on the floor.

"Hey, hey, I don't made the rules," Toshiro tried to calm the girl down before she whipped out her rinkakuagain. "The Imperial Court only has night classes, so he won't be gone for long. Just a few hours every night."

"Big Sister," Miharu tried to comfort her after he righted himself. Rize took a deep breathe, but sank down to the floor. Her little brother cuddled up to her side, his face completely blank, even as she ran her fingers through his hair to dissolve her fears.

"You two are going to give me a heart attack at this rate, I hope you know that?" Toshiro chuckled, watching their interactions. "I really don't want to split the two of you up, so if you could just agree to attend the school, everything will be fine."

Rize hesitated. She wanted what was best for her precious little brother, even if it was far away from her. Plus, he would be learning something that would help further protect him. But, there was only one problem.

"You know that we're ghouls…and you still want to invite Miharu to a human school?"

Toshiro sighed at her question. This was the hardest part about inviting creature students, the fear and wariness of outsiders.

"It'll be fine. There are many of students who have creature blood in them at the Court. I, myself, have some werewolf blood in me. My paternal great grandfather, to be exact. Unlike with Europe, Japan is…kinder concerning creatures. We protect them and accept them as well as we can. We, at least, know how to not create a Dark Lord." Toshiro started to mutter quietly about idiots and incompetency.

Rize and Miharu ignored him in favor of having their own silent conversation on the matter.

"Not only will he be protected from the European Magical Community, but he will also be safe from deportation laws. It's two birds with one stone," Toshiro concluded after a few minutes.

Miharu remembered Rize's story about her mother and how Shachi's so distant with his two children. He remembered how Rize kept coming back with new injuries every time she left. He remembered the thin and large inhabitants and the grey cold room.

"I'll go," Miharu decided.

"Miharu!" Rize exclaimed, aghast.

"There are too many costs to not going," he reasoned with her. "The benefits far outweigh them. This way, I'm more protected, isn't that what you want?"

Rize bit her lip. It was what she wanted, but she knew it wasn't what Miharu had in mind. To him, more protection meant taking more risks, not more safety.

She sighed. "Fine, I can't change your mind, these last five years have taught me that."

"You'll need this then," Toshiro stated cheerfully. "I'll be back in a week to take you shopping for school supplies and go over the laws of the Magical Community." The suited man handed Miharu a letter. Clearly stamped on the front was the apartment's address. Miharu squinted his eyes at the crossed out name at the top.

"Why…" he trailed off.

"Your name," Toshiro told him. "Since we know that you're here, we can now legally change it. That was your birth name."

"Miharu's...birth name?" Rize asked, her eye wide in surprise. She glanced down at the boy still cuddling up to her side.

"You want to know it?" Toshiro grinned charmingly.

"No," Miharu stated. The warmth purred along with his answer. He didn't need his birth name, he liked the one that he had now. He cut off his connections with his past years ago. Miharu was Miharu, after all.

"But-!"

"Very well then," Toshiro nodded, pushing himself into a stand. "It was wonderful talking to the both of you, but I need to return to the Ministry. Paper work needing to be burned, minions to torment, it's a busy day for me." He bowed politely to the sitting pair and then let himself out.

"He's weird," Miharu noted as Rize blinked in surprise.

"Why didn't you want to know your name?" she gathered herself and questioned him.

Miharu tilted his head up so that he could look her in the eye. "It's not important. I have you and Father now."

Rize blinked, trying to banish the tears. "Miharu," she cooed, sniffling. "You're too cute."

Miharu coughed, stunned as his big sister tackled him to the ground.

"Sorry, sorry!" she scrambled to sit back up, pulling Miharu up with her. "I'm just so happy to have you as a little brother."

Miharu smiled softly at her, causing her face to light up. "Really, too cute," she muttered, frustrated.

The younger boy canted his head, a little confused at the blush that lit up his sister's face. He shrugged and moved to stand up.

"Do you want any coffee?" he asked as he walked towards the kitchen area. He, admittedly, wasn't the best at making the hot drink, but he was passable enough to make it when Rize was too lazy to do so.

"Yeah, we'll need it for our chat with Papa," Rize told him.

Miharu sighed in exasperation. They were going to be yelling at each other for hours and he definitely wouldn't be getting any sleep.

He started to make the coffee, preparing enough for all three of them.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

**At this rate, I am never going to get this blush off of my face, you all are just too awesome for me. **

**Even more Rize and Miharu bonding! (If anyone is starting to get tried of it, just remember that Rize dies soon~) I want Miharu and Shachi to bond more, but it just doesn't go really well with the story itself. They're still family, but in a bit of a standoff-ish way. Miharu is just hesitant of adults in general, especially ones that can easily kill him. (Plus, let's all admit, he looks pretty scary, especially if you're a kid that has only met, like, three people in their life and been abused.)**

**Okay, some things to be cleared up. **

**Shachi's 'pacifistic teachings' – it's more like that's how Rize views Shachi's teachings. He doesn't believe in fighting or killing unless necessary. He might be strong, but he doesn't use his strength for everything. To keep his family safe, he prefers to use diplomacy before using violence. Rize and Miharu are more, hit them before they hit you, kinda fighters. **

**Yup, that's Toshiro, my OC representative. He knows a lot of shit that he will keep from **_**everyone.**_** More reasons for that will be explained later on. And yes, he will appear again. **

**Audrea is mentioned again~ Finally, more information about her! But, Toshiro won't reveal much else about her, sadly. **

**The lily fixation gets more and more complicated. But, I'm sure you can all guess who the Woman in Red is? **

**The stone thing is not as important as other things, but it will be reoccurring. I'll leave a full explanation about each stone at the end of each chapter.**

**Yes, the Japanese School is called the Imperial Court. If anyone has a better name, that would be awesome.**

**So, the warmth is Miharu's magic and the heat is his ghoul abilities. The magic that Miharu has shown so far is conjuration, legilimens, imperius, apparition, and general healing, cleaning, and surviving. **

**RHODONITE – Element Air**

**Generally pink with a glossy shine. Known to be pink, red, orange, and even black. Name comes from the Greek word for Rose. **

**As an amulet, Rhodonite strengthens immune system, acting as a stress remover. Helps with low potency and improves conception chances. According to ancient superstitions, Rhondonite eases suffering of woman during labor. It is also a children's amulet and talisman: putting a piece of Rhodonite in a cradle of the newborn will helps him to grow strong and healthy, courageous and sharp-sighted**

**It is also believed that Rhodonite can exert positive influence on the nervous system, chase away insomnia and nightmares, as well as improve the liver function.**

**Rhondonite can awaken the dreaming talents in its wearer. It is a stone of art, a stone of game, dexterity, tricks, a stone of magicians, fakirs and also charlatans. It develops quick thinking, talents in the arts of music, singing, painting; provides wearer with language abilities. However, it also may induce the wearer to commit eccentric and not well though-out acts.**

**Rhodonite is a stone of inspiration that can help you to recognize and make use of your own unique talents. Takes away feelings of guilt and false modesty so that you can appreciate how special and gifted you are. Used in emotional healing to help restore feelings of worth, confidence and self-love. Once you recognize your talents meditation with the stone can help you discover how you can use those gifts to better your life and your community.**

**(If anyone wants the websites that I got this information from, I put them on my profile under Websites for Shared Flesh.)**

**The next chapter will be another Time Skip, but it finally starts to catch up with the Tokyo Ghoul story line. Just a few more chapters, three or four, and we'll get to Kaneki~**

**(I'm probably not going to add Miharu's visit to the Magical Shopping center. If anyone wants it, I might do an omake, but that's the most I'll do.)**


	5. Once I Rose

**That took way too long…But, I'm finally back!**

**Now…this chapter finally has blood and death and torture again. Just what we all like, right? This chapter is also an emotional train wreck for Miharu. It's just not a good day for him, the poor guy. **

**Enough about that, let the torment begin~**

**I don't own Harry Potter or Tokyo Ghoul.**

* * *

"Hey, Miharu!" Miharu paused, looking up from his desk where he was gathering his pen and notebook. His expression was carefully blank as he turned to face a small group of boys his age.

He didn't say anything, choosing to stare them down instead.

"You busy tonight? We're planning on heading over to the Sakura Grove and hang out with the sirens." One of the boys questioned, his greenish-blue stone shimmering as Miharu glanced downwards.

"No, thank you, Kenzo," Miharu stated, packing his supplies into his side bag. "I have lessons with Big Sister tonight."

"Dude, I've been asking since you got here!" Kenzo whined, his friends nodding at his words. Miharu had to give the wizard props for being tenacious. In the three months that Miharu had been attending the Imperial Court's magic school, Sagashite iru Gakkō, Kenzo had asked Miharu out for a night of 'fun' after every lesson. "Can't you skip one night? I'm sure your sister won't mind! I mean, she'd want you to hang out with friends, right?" Kenzo laughed nervously.

Miharu tensed up, the warmth, his magic, hissing under his skin. The other students backed away hesitantly, sensing the dark air that suddenly descended on the friendly conversation.

"Kamishiro," the teacher spoke up, warningly.

Miharu took a breath and dipped his hand into his pants pocket. His fingers brushed against a smooth stone and his magic soothed to a simmer immediately. He really didn't like forcing a calm on the warmth, but the teachers had been very adamant that if he couldn't control his magic, they would have to take him away. Attacking magic users was, apparently, not okay in their books. Miharu thought it was all really stupid. But, he was just glad that Big Sister and Father had convinced them not to permanently attach a suppressant to his hand.

'Japan is kinder to creatures,' Toshiro had said. Kinder, but still not perfect. They would protect creatures, especially ones that could do magic, but they would also monitor them. Watching them cautiously, as if making sure they wouldn't act out.

Miharu was happy they had yet to discover a way to chain down the heat, the blood that made him the creature that he was. He knew they would try to restrain that as well, if they could. They were so scared of becoming like Europe, a community that suffered from a Dark Lord every century. Their magical community was getting smaller and smaller, they couldn't afford a war. And unlike their European counterparts, the Imperial Court knew the dangers of under population. And incest.

"I have lessons with Big Sister tonight," Miharu repeated firmly.

"Yeah," Kenzo fidgeted, his eyes shifting around anxiously. "Well, have fun with that, bye!"

Miharu stared after him, watching as he raced out of the room. He slipped his hand out of his pocket, pulling his stone out with him. He frowned heavily down at the alexandrite in his fist. The stone was one of three that had been handed to him when he went shopping with Toshiro. It was chosen with the sole purpose of keeping him calm when he felt his magic acting according to his emotions. Neither Miharu nor the Woman in Red liked the stone and were always very happy when he 'lost' it.

His other two stones, which he had to keep on him at all time, were hematite and ruby. When Miharu had asked about the hematite, Toshiro had pulled out an opal imbedded ring. Corresponding with the creature, they needed a certain stone. The stone couldn't restrain their abilities, but marked the creature instead. If Miharu entered a magic building, the owners would immediately be warned that he was a Ghoul, as long as they had the right wards in place.

The ruby was considered his 'true' stone. The stone that enhanced his magic and only benefited his powers. While Miharu didn't need it, being more than capable with his magic without the assistance, he could not deny the enjoyment he got when he held the ruby and felt the warmth _purr._

Miharu threw the alexandrite into a side pocket of his backpack and slipped it over his shoulder. Ignoring his muttering peers, he strolled over to the window and took a moment to open his exit.

The students, far too used to it by now, didn't even gasp as he flung himself out and into the night air. Miharu remembered the first time he left in such a manner and how much the wizards had screamed. It had been a good laugh, if he was honest.

The moment he felt himself breach the wards that hid the school from the muggles of Tokyo, Miharu bid his warmth to form his mask and allowed the heat to release his kagune.

The three tentacles stretched, rejoicing in their freedom. He was flying through the air, the 6th Ward passing by below him in a blur.

Miharu looked down briefly, noting exactly where he was. Rize had told him to meet her at their favorite hunting ground in the 6th Ward, where she would track down a ghoul so that Miharu could practice his fighting skills.

It was only a few days after deciding to attend the Imperial Court's magic school that Rize came to him about her one condition. Every day, after class, Miharu had to meet with her so that he could learn how to protect himself. If Shachi was too busy to teach him to protect himself, Rize would do it herself.

And Miharu much preferred spending time with his sister than dealing with the adolescent magic users.

"Sayuri!" a figure hissed, noticing him from a roof top. Miharu blinked but descended obediently. One of his tentacles curled around a pole, anchoring him to the building. He quickly pulled himself up, landing in a crouch next to his sister, who glanced around quickly. She still didn't trust the wizards, convinced that they were monitoring Miharu every time he left the classroom.

"Big Sister," he greeted. Rize reached up and flipped the dark hood of her jacket off. She smiled down at him and patted his head, making sure not to mess up the careful braid she had made that morning.

"Are you ready, Miharu?" He nodded and Rize grinned widely, her white teeth gleaming in the industrial lights. "Then, let's go."

Rize sprinted off over to the edge of the building, front flipping as she fell. Miharu was more leisurely, strolling to the edge instead. He glanced down, watching as his older sister's kagune erupted from her back, piercing the sides of the wall and stopping her in the air. She looked up with a giggle and waved Miharu down.

Miharu sat on the lip of the building, his feet dangling off the side.

"Com'on Miharu," Rize hurried. Miharu silently slipped off the side, landing lightly on Rize's thick appendage.

"What's the plan tonight, Big Sister?" Miharu wondered. He walked delicately along Rize's rinkaku,gazing down at the alley below them. He hopped from one appendage to another in boredom. Rize watched Miharu's small game with an amused smile.

"We're going to wait here for a ghoul. I'd prefer to go deeper into the alleys but I heard Papa was seen lurking around there," Rize frowned briefly. Their father didn't know what they did when Rize and Miharu went out. Rize was sure he had his theories, but he had yet to make a move to stop them. She was sure it was only because he wasn't at their base often enough. She didn't want to risk running into him and have him lecture both of them. Or worse, order them back to the apartment. Rize was a grown up now, she knew what she was doing. She was perfectly capable of making the right decision without Shachi's interference. She refused to be sent to her room like a child.

"Will I be fighting tonight?" Miharu asked. Usually Rize would fight, showing Miharu moves with her rinkaku, which he would then practice against Rize. Sometimes, very rarely, Rize would actually allow him to fight a ghoul.

Rize was silent for a moment, merely watching her brother. Miharu stopped jumping around when she didn't answer, turning to look over at her.

"Sure," Rize agreed. "You've been practicing enough, I doubt a run of the mill ghoul can beat you."

Miharu smiled, a faint upwards twitch of his lips. Rize saw it all the same, completely in-tuned with her precious little brother.

She laughed at his sadistic glee. The sound echoed, interrupted only by a shuffling sound below them. Someone had heard their amusement.

"After you," Rize whispered mischievously, gesturing downwards. Miharu nodded and back flipped off of her appendage. Rize took a moment to watch her brother flying through the air, focused completely on his prey. He had grown so much in the last four years; Rize couldn't be prouder.

As Miharu fell to the alley floor, the heat bubbled beneath his lower back, erupting into his beloved three tentacles. They swarmed behind him, making the small boy look larger than he actually was.

Miharu bent his knees, absorbing the shock as he hit the ground. Without his guidance, his rinkaku flared out, blocking a hail of shards.

"Ukaku," Miharu mused. The green laced tentacles flicked, protecting him from being pierced as the young ghoul took a moment to observe his opponent.

It was an adult male ghoul, with a jagged purple ukaku. Miharu was curious as to why the male had attacked him on sight, considering most ghouls are the reclusive types. 'Don't cause trouble, don't get in trouble', was the general consensus. But, this male was attacking viciously, desperately.

Miharu caught sight of the male's eyes, black veins branching out onto his face, spreading across his features. Miharu would not hesitate to have called the male attractive, once upon a time. But the insanity and hunger that consumed him made the man look so twisted.

Tentatively, he _reached_, curious about the deviation in usual ghoul behavior.

_Flesh- Hungry- Food, so much food, just waiting waiting waiting- I want it I want it I want it- smells so good, let me take a bite, just a bite, no one will notice- Juicy flesh, so young- The younger the better- Warm flesh- Blood running down my throat- HUNGRY_

"A cannibal," Rize commented, still watching from above. She furrowed her eyebrows. Cannibals were dangerous, considered stronger than the average ghoul. Even that strength had its draw backs. Cannibals usually went insane, craving for the flesh of their fellow ghouls and suffering for their desperation. Cannibals were something to be feared and pitied.

Rize wasn't sure if she could defeat a cannibal by herself at the moment, never mind her little brother. But, she had promised Miharu that he could fight and if Papa taught her anything, it was to never go back on her word. She would let Miharu fight, and if it looked like he was losing, she would step in. Her decision did not stop the tremors as she fisted her hands. She had to let Miharu learn, even if she wanted to never see a single drop of blood fall from his pale body. He had to get stronger, no matter what.

Miharu frowned at the information. Cannibals were no joke, but the heat continued to bubble, as if to convince its wielder that they would be fine. Miharu was not one to doubt the heat and warmth that had protected him for so long.

One tentacle swayed in front of him, swiping the projectiles away. The other two appendages reached out to try and slice at the cannibal.

Miharu knew it won't be that easy. The cannibal folded his wing-like appendages over his shoulder, blocking Miharu's signature move of cutting off his prey's head. The two kagune clashed together and Miharu winced. His tentacles were strong, but still weaker than an ukaku and the limb started to splinter.

Taking command of his kagune, he pulled the two limbs back to his side. Rize had taught him that he could manipulate the density and form of his rinkaku to a degree. But, Miharu had never succeeded in that lesson during training. He gritted his teeth, trying to order to heat to loosen up and allow his kagune more maneuverability. If the tentacles were more fluid, he might be able to beat his opponent.

The heat resisted his orders, staying in the form he had known since they appeared at his side five years ago. The scythe-like limbs curled protectively around him, blocking the cannibal's long distance attacks.

Miharu cursed softly. Ukaku had less stamina than an average ghoul, but an adult would no doubt have more strength than an eleven year old boy. If he hadn't felt the warmth converging on the tentacles, Miharu would have called to Big Sister for help.

The one-eyed ghoul leapt back frantically as the cannibal grew hungrier, launching himself at the boy. The middle limb reached out, aiming for the ghoul's left arm, which was stretched out to the side.

The cannibal grabbed the tentacle, halting its movement. Miharu cried out in pain, feeling the tight grip crush the extra limb. Distracted, his rinkaku failed to block the next wave of RC cell bullets. Miharu shrieked, throwing his head back at the combined agony.

"Mi-Sayuri!" Rize shouted in fear. Miharu could hear her disengage her own kagune from the walls and heard the air whistle passed her body as she fell. He also heard when the cannibal ripped out his appendage with a victorious roar.

Miharu screamed again, tears blooming in his red on black eye. His magic was unprepared, unable to numb his pain receptors in time. The warmth frantically buzzed, unsure of what to do. The heat bubbled again, trying to reform the lost limb. His remaining appendages prodded at the shards sticking out of his body.

One tentacle slipped around the spike, wiggling under his skin to pull the protrusion out. Miharu stifled another cry.

The cannibal paused to sniff at the limp kagune in his hand.

"You smell good," he grunted. He lifted his hand, pulling the limb, _Miharu's limb_, to his mouth. The child watched, horrified, as the cannibal fed off of Miharu's beloved tentacle. A tentacle that had helped save him from the thin and large inhabitant. A tentacle that protected him and fought for him.

In his horror, the remaining tentacles quickly pulled out two more bullets. He barely felt it. Three more remained and the openings were slowly healing with the assistance of the warmth.

RC cells streamed down the ghoul's mouth as he moaned. The red limb shimmered, the cells wetting the surface of the weapon. Miharu noticed that the glowing green lines on the limb were dim, looking more like grass than poison.

"You taste really good," the ghoul mused, tearing his RC cell stained teeth into Miharu's detached kagune once again.

Rize choked from her spot behind the ghoul. The cannibal heard her, twisted his head around to gaze at her with a glowing eye.

"Stop eating my little brother," she hissed. The ghoul chewed once, twice, before swallowing.

"But," he grinned widely. "He tastes so good." The ghoul laughed loudly, tossing Miharu's tentacle to the side. "I bet it'll taste better from the source," he added.

Rize snarled, crouching down as her four appendages flared out threateningly behind her. Miharu twitched, his feet firmly planted on the ground as his sluggish tentacles pulled out the last few shards. Done with their task, they dropped to the ground behind him with a quiet thud.

The wide grin spread further up the ghoul's face. "I wouldn't mind eating you first, of course," he informed her, flaring his matching wings at her silent threat.

"You have no idea who you're messing with," she warned him, her eyes bleeding into black as the red blazed.

"My mother told me not to play with my food," the ghoul snickered, swaying slightly. "But, I guess I just can't help it if they insist on playing games with me!" he cackled.

Rize was almost too distracted by the ghoul to block his shard attack. Thankfully, she slammed two of her tentacles under her, flinging herself into the air. Her two limbs were speared instead and she whimpered in pain as she used her other two kagune to throw herself off the wall and into the ghoul's face.

One of the cannibal's wings stretched, swatting her out of the air, even as its counterpart fired more bullets at her.

Rize shrieked as she impacted with the brick wall and was speared by the RC bullets. Thankfully, blinded by hunger and his insanity, the cannibal missed most of his shots.

Miharu bit his lip, watching as Rize was pinned to the wall by her shoulder, upper thigh, and abdomen. He wanted to join the fight and protect the woman that helped raise him and protect him. But, his limbs, tired as they were, were spasming behind him, unable to do more than twitch. He could feel that the warmth had moved to pulsing around his kagune, but he had no idea what the powerful energy was doing to his limbs. He was just grateful that he could already feel a third tentacle regrowing itself. But, he was frozen and defenseless for the first time since his days in the gray room.

"Oh?" the cannibal muttered, eyeing his stuck prey. "Aren't you going to play with me some more?" he muttered.

Rize whimpered, her hand scrambling to tug at the shard in her abdomen. It wiggled in her grasp, causing her to muffle a scream of pain. The cannibal watched her diligently, reaching out a hand to trail it across her bleeding stomach.

He pulled back, dragging the wet hand to his mouth. The cannibal stuck his tongue out, licking curiously at his fingers, consuming the warm blood. He moaned again, closing his eyes in ecstasy.

"You don't taste as good as the boy," he informed Rize, sounding a little disappointed. "You make a wonderful appetizer though." Rize managed to sneer at the twisted compliment. In response, the cannibal prodded at her stomach, watching as more blood slipped passed the shard.

"Maybe…" the ghoul smiled. He wrapped his hand around the shard. Miharu watched, horrified, trying desperately to order the warmth and heat to work faster. He couldn't stand to watch, unable to move and help. He had to get up, he had to get up, Big Sister was hurt, he had to get up.

The cannibal pulled the shard out a little, enough so that Miharu could see Rize shift, her weight resting solely on the shards spearing through her shoulder and thigh.

The cannibal adjusted his grip and slammed the shard back inside the fifteen year old. Rize screamed, feeling her organs being crushed and stabbed. She arched her back, stretching her three new holes. She flopped back against the wall, whimpering.

The ghoul chanced a look back, eyeing the frozen Miharu. "Shouldn't you save the damsel in distress?" he snickered. "She's screaming and you can't even muster up a punch. How pathetic. I wonder why she was protecting a weakling like you?"

Miharu twitched, watching as the ghoul shifted his grip on the shard once again. He grinned nastily up at Miharu's big sister as she glared down at him with her hell-fire eyes.

"Don't look at me like that sweetheart," he snarked. "A ghoul's gotta eat." He jerked his hand down, the shard cutting through Rize's intestines as it moved from her abdomen to her pelvis. "I find girls to more delicious," he stated conversationally, cutting into her with his shard.

"Even ghoul girls are sweeter than ghoul boys. They just have a delicate taste to them," he paused to think, stilling his hand as well. "Though," he admitted matter-of-factly, "that might be because I enjoying devouring the uterus."

Rize choked, blood bubbling in her throat angrily.

"It's not my fault!" he assured her. "The thought that I'm eating someone before they even get to live…" the cannibal trailed off dreamily. "I shudder just thinking about it." Before two disbelieving and horrified eyes, the cannibal pulled away from Rize mutilated stomach to grip possessively at his own abdomen. "Sometimes," he whispered as if sharing a secret between friends, instead of prey. "Sometimes I like to hunt down ghouls who are carrying. They can't do anything to protect themselves, but I love watching them try to save the fragile life inside. It's…intoxicating." He licked his lips, entranced by his memories. He was distracted, believing the duo he was planning on eating were defenseless, whether in pain or in fear.

Miharu struck.

He felt the warmth recced from his kagune, leaving the limbs feeling weighted. Unable to see the changes that the energy had done, Miharu struck out blindly, trusting the powers within him to aim for their target. No one was expecting for three tentacles to pierce the cannibal, sharp tips protruding from his chest. The cannibal choked, staring down at the squirming limbs in confusion.

Hating the ghoul for daring to harm, and torture, Big Sister, Miharu flexed the appendages, expecting the limbs to twitch and make the holes larger. He wanted the cannibalistic ghoul to suffer for what he did to Big Sister.

Instead, the scales on the kagune spiked out, like a brisling crystalized cat tail. The ghoul screeched as he was pierced from the inside, Miharu's tentacles no doubt puncturing multiple internal organs.

Blinded by his pain, the ghoul fell, pulling the shard out of Rize's abdomen with a sickening squish. She breathed deeply, wincing as the injury stretched.

The ghoul couldn't slide off of the limbs that were imbedded inside him and he was left dangling in the air at their mercy.

"Sayuri?" Rize muttered questioningly. Miharu let out a sigh of relief, his face feeling chilled by the tear tracks that stained his features. If Big Sister had enough wits to remember his 'code-name' than she should be fine. She had to be fine.

"Big Sister," he gasped out. He shivered, feeling the putrid filth's blood seeping into the crevasses of his spiked kagune. At his disgust, the appendages folded in on themselves until tey were back to their slick tentacle form. The cannibal, no longer being held up by the spikes, slipped off his rinkaku and thudded to the ground.

He groaned in pain. Miharu blinked down at him. This was a monster that had hurt Big Sister and tried to eat him. This was a monster that attacked those that could not defend themselves, taking pleasure in devouring their fear along with their bodies. This was the type of monster that Miharu hated more than anything. A bully.

Miharu eyed the disgusting lump of disgraceful ghoul flesh. Rancid smelling blood pooled out of his body, creating a dark puddle beneath him. He had no doubt the cannibal could survive his injuries if Miharu left him as he was. Shachi had once likened cannibals to cockroaches. They would live through the damn apocalypse if they had enough will power.

Rize took a few shallow breathes and reached down, pulling out the RC cell shard that speared her thigh. With an angry huff, she threw it to the side. Miharu listened intently as it clattered twice against the ground.

The cannibal's breathing was wheezy, but Miharu could already see him healing. That quick bite of Miharu's tentacle must have given him a lot of energy.

Miharu's rinkaku were limp, tired and weak. They rested on the ground, one blearily prodding at the detached appendage in curiosity. He ordered the kagune back under his skin. They wouldn't be necessary anymore.

The warmth, without needing an order, rushed to his left hand. Rize eased herself to the floor, crouching as she looked over her three injuries, the third shard clenched tightly in her right hand.

Before she could even think about where she would need to stab the cannibal to eliminate the threat (through the eye to the brain, the kakuhou, the heart, _tear him apart like he tried to do to Miharu, stab him until he bled out like he did to her_), Miharu shot forward. His hand was outstretched and glowing an eerie green. Rize noted that the color looked similar to the veins that appeared on her little brother's kagune.

The moment the energy in Miharu's hand made contact with the cannibal, all signs of life vanished. He froze, as if he had been dead for hours. Rigorous mortem set in in seconds, right before Rize's astonished eyes.

"Was that…magic?" she questioned him, her voice wavering in agony.

"I ordered the warmth to get rid of the threat," he told her. Rize smiled softly, glad that Miharu had an extra weapon to protect himself. She was very careful not to show how concerned she was about his power levels. She knew Miharu had all three of his conducting stones on him, but he had been able to do that without calling upon a single one. That couldn't be normal.

Rize hoped that Toshiro never noticed. She didn't want Miharu to be taken away from her because he was too powerful for interaction or something else ridiculous.

The siblings were silent as they stared down at the corpse.

"We should leave," Rize stated, struggling to a stand. She was healing, but slowly. She hadn't eaten recently enough to use her abilities to their fullest. "Someone probably informed the Doves about ghouls fighting it out. They just love that shit."

Miharu swooped forward, catching Rize before she could tip over as she wobbled unsteadily.

"You're too weak right now, Big Sister," he tried to reason with her. "And the apartment is too far away."

Rize scoffed. "We can make it, we just have to be careful."

And careful they were. The siblings stuck to the shadows, sneaking towards the newest apartment base that Shachi had moved the small family to after Miharu started attending Sagashite iru Gakkō. While they did run into some ghouls along the way, one look from Miharu's glowing kakugan through his mask and the curious ghouls backed off. The duo had made a name for themselves and other ghouls knew to keep a distance from them. Even if one of them was injured, the other would fight to the death to protect their companion.

None of the resident ghouls wanted any trouble with Shachi, either. There was no doubt he was protective of his precious children and would unleash his full strength against anyone foolish enough to attack them while they were not a top shape.

Pausing at an alleyway across the street from the apartment complex, Miharu peeked around. At two in the morning, there wasn't anyone lurking the area, but Miharu bit his lip. If they left the protection of the shadows, who knew who could see them and call the Doves. His family didn't need more running.

"Come on, Big Sister," Miharu murmured, and shuffled towards their door. Rize nodded tightly, her head resting on his shorter shoulder. He could feel her breathing hitch with every movement they made.

Miharu's vision tunneled on the door. If they could just make it to the door, Big Sister could rest. If they could just make it to the door, Big Sister could heal and tell him it's okay. _If they could just make it to the door._

Miharu banged open the door, for once glad that the lock had long since broken. Every moment they were outside the safety of their apartment, the higher the chances of a human noticing them and calling the Doves.

The warmth left his body abruptly and Miharu barely managed to stagger the duo towards the middle of the room before he collapsed. He was so tired.

Rize groaned at the rough treatment, but pulled her arm from Miharu's shoulder and careful flipped herself over. The one-eyed ghoul worried that the blood stains on the mats wouldn't come off. Maybe he should have had Rize change before he fell.

Miharu hiccupped.

Their training had never come that close. Sure, Big Sister would sometimes come home from her solo training covered in cuts, but she had holes in her body. She had been taunted and tormented. She was bleeding so much.

Miharu remembered how much the thin and large inhabitant bled. Did ghouls bleed as much as they did? He couldn't take her to a hospital, what if her injuries got infected? He only knew how to help with minor cuts, not serious wounds.

"Shh, Miharu, shh," Rize soothed, shakily reaching out her hand to brush down her brother's cheek. She was unnerved by his escalating sobs. Miharu still struggled with expressing himself, this was something she had never seen, or expected, from him. "It's going to be okay. I'll be fine in a few days, shh Miharu."

Miharu twisted around, desperate to see the truth in his Big Sister's eyes. He stared into her purple gaze as she smiled softly down at him.

"Don't worry," she whispered. "I'll be fine. They're just scratches. Nothing to work yourself up about, Miharu."

His sobs quieted to sniffles. The boy rubbed angrily at the tear track that flowed out from beneath his mask. Miharu reached out and pulled Rize into a desperate hug.

The older girl hide a wince, determined not to distress the young boy further. She hushed him as her uninjured arm pulled his hair from its messy braid. Calmly, muttering soothing words in his ears, she ran her hand through his wavy long hair.

They stayed, wrapped around each other on the floor, for an hour. They would have continued, reassuring the other about their safety, but the pair heard a loud noise from outside the apartment.

Miharu froze. It sounded like it was coming from the alley across from their door. Had someone followed them?

Rize immediately tried to lever herself up, only to cry out when a healing wound reopened.

"I got it," Miharu assured her, rolling to his feet. "You stay and heal."

Rize looked at him in concern, searching his covered face. "Miharu…" she trailed off.

He reached behind him, into the slim backpack that had _magically_ survived the night. "I'll bring my conductors," he stated, pulling out all three stones.

Rize hesitated. She knew that Miharu was volunteering to get his mind off of her wounds and maybe vent out his fears. It wasn't healthy, but they couldn't risk their safety right now. Papa wasn't there to bail them out at the moment.

A second bang made the decision for her. Rize watched the door swing shut as Miharu launched himself back into the night.

"Just, be careful," she sighed.

Unfortunately, Miharu was too far away to hear his sister's wishful words. Still, a shiver of uncertainty went down his spine. He could feel the warmth waking up again, sluggish from lessons and the murder.

A frown pulled at his features as he paused in front of the wall of dark that was the entrance to the alley. Something was telling him to keep away. The warmth, slow on the uptake, buzzed in warning a moment too late.

Miharu took a step forward into the alley and froze. It was a scene from a nightmare, one that Rize had told him time and time again.

'If ghouls are the embodiment of chaos,' she would tell him. 'Then Doves are the peace. And peace always seeks to destroy the chaos.'

Father was cornered. Miharu didn't want to believe such a thing, but with four Doves blocking his path, Shachi had nowhere to run to. The child had no idea what was happening. Father was the strongest ghoul he knew, even stronger than Big Sister.

He took a step forward in confusion. The warmth blared beneath his skin as all eyes snapped over to his shivering form. Miharu took comfort in the fact that his precious Lily Mask hid the majority of his horror.

"Father?" a confused cry slipped passed Miharu's shaking lips. This was too much, too much for one night. One of his hands reached back, groping around for Big Sister's warm and comforting hand. But, she wasn't there. She was waiting for him in the apartment, resting. She was too injured to take on these Doves.

Miharu's hell fire eye hardened. There was no way he was going to let these monsters anywhere near his sister.

"Sayuri," Shachi rumbled. Miharu took a halting step forward at the call. His father's responding glare made him twitch.

The one-eyed ghoul knew he wasn't strong enough to take on Doves, but he couldn't leave Father to face them himself.

"Another one?" one of the Doves hummed, chuckling in amusement. "And they seem to know each other."

"Sayuri," Shachi said, ignoring the white haired Dove who grinned widely. "Get out of here."

Miharu hesitated. He was tired from the cannibal and Shachi was probably at full strength, but something told him that if he left, he wouldn't see the older man for a long time.

"Hey now," the Dove spoke up again. "Let the lad stay. We'll need to have words with him as well."

"Sayuri," Shachi repeated. "Get out of here."

"But," Miharu muttered. The warmth hissed, bubbling and coiling inside. It was too tired, but it didn't like the situation any more than he did. "Father…"

"Sayuri," the man snapped. The Doves shifted uncertainly. Maybe they didn't know if they could handle Shachi and his supposed spawn or maybe they weren't expecting such an interaction. Either way, Miharu hated them for being there, blocking him from the man that helped raise him, no matter how distant he had been.

Miharu wavered. Big Sister was always, always, his first concern. And she was so close to the Doves, too close for comfort, and unable to properly protect herself. But, Miharu couldn't _leave_ Father.

"Mr. Mado," a younger Dove called.

The strange Investigator, the one that insisted on talking, grinned eerily. Miharu could see death in his wild eyes. This man, this human, wanted nothing more than to see both of the ghouls dead before his feet. No matter the cost.

Miharu definitely couldn't let him anywhere near Big Sister.

He took a step back, ready to race away.

"Ah, ah, ah," the Dove, Mado, taunted. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. We have more Investigators surrounding the entire street, running will only make this harder for you."

Miharu gritted his teeth, flashing his eye over to Shachi. The mustached man frowned heavily.

"You cannot hope to defeat me," he warned the humans after a moment. Some shifted uncomfortably. "Instead, I will come peacefully if you let Sayuri go. Cochlea, I believe your prison is called."

Mado jeered, "As tempting as that offer is, we cannot allow a single ghoul to roam the streets of our wards."

Shachi's coal eyes hardened. "Very well then."

The two monsters stared each other down.

"Sayuri, go! Now!" Shachi shouted, launching himself at his opponents.

Miharu fled immediately. He knew intimately that he wasn't strong enough yet.

Behind him, Shachi cut down the other three Doves in one fell swing of his kagune. Mado shouted in anger, calling the other Doves to him.

Miharu dodged a wayward swipe, aiming for the shadows.

He just needed to get to the apartment. He just needed to get to Big Sister. She would know what to do. She could help Father, she could stop the pounding in his head.

Miharu reached up, desperately trying to muffle his cries. He couldn't afford for any of the Doves to hear him.

The one-eyed ghoul didn't look back when he heard a roar of rage. He continued to race forward. He just needed to _survive_.

The Woman in Red, locked tightly inside his mind, screamed in grief for him.

* * *

**Imma admit, not my favorite chapter, even with the blood and tentacles. This just did not want to be written and took me far longer than usual to get it out of my head and onto paper. But, onto more important matters…**

**THANK YOU ARESLAW, FOR THE SCHOOL NAME. **

**SHACHI, NOOO. But, I mean, we knew he was gonna be locked up. I just figured now was as good a time as ever. **

**I hope no one was really bothered by the characterization of Miharu in this chapter. He's really broken. Rize and Shachi are the centers of his entire world, so this kinda fucks him up even further. **

**ANYWAY, additional information…**

**The School Name, which was kindly provided by AresLaw as is stated above, means Seeking School. As such, the Imperial Court now refers to the Japanese Magical Community as a whole. **

**A couple of reviewers liked the omake idea. Other than the First Family Hunt and the Shopping Trip, is there anything else you all might wanna see an omake of?**

**Due to FanFiction being annoying, I've moved the two websites about the stones used to my profile. So, it's all there under Websites for Shared Flesh, if anyone wants that. **

**Currently, Miharu's stones are not on rings. He'll be fitted at a later date, but the Imperial Court does not force a wizard to place the stone on rings. Some will use wand-like rods, bracelets, and even necklaces for the more powerful. As long as the wizard can feel the stone, then they're good.**

**No Audrea in this chapter, but more Lily/Woman in Red~ Yay!**

**Now, the stones…**

**OPAL – Water Element**

**An opal is a stone of the moon.**

**In history, an opal is known as a stone of "vain hope" while others believed that an opal clarifies the mind, give pure thoughts and drive fears away. In the East, Opal was considered the stone of faith and love; in Europe it was a symbol of hope and happiness. According to Delphian oracle, Opal is a symbol inconstancy, typical in beautiful women. The stone was considered a talisman for thieves as it was thought to gift invisibility to its user. **

**According to some legends Opal's wearer can telepathically influence other people. As a talisman, Opal is supposed to be worn on the right index finger, gold-mounted. An Opal talisman boosts foresight.**

**Opal also helps against heart diseases, calms nerves, guards against melancholy, and restores visual acuity.**

**An opal is a stone of deceptive hopes and illusions, secret passions, superstitions, the favorite stone of magicians and alchemists. Opals intensify intuition and promote inspiration. To increase Opal's magical properties it should be mounted in gold or silver. Opal reaches its maximum power in October.**

**ALEXANDRITE – Water Element**

**Alexandrite is a stone of prosperity and longevity. It balances mind and emotions, pacifies soul and promotes spiritual growth. In the daylight, it is of bluish-green or even emerald-green color, and in the artificial light, it may be red, crimson, purple-red and violet-red. It is said this stone is emerald during the day and ruby in the evening.**

**Gamblers favor Alexandrite, as they believe wearing it improves chances of winning. Alexandrite makes its wearer more calm and peaceful and can be therefore a good talisman for people with a temperament. **

**Alexandrite is a stone with strong powers; it reacts to a change in the wearer's health by changing its color. It is believed that Alexandrite can improve blood circulation, purify blood and strengthen blood vessels; it also positively influences spleen and pancreas. **

**HEMATITE - Water Element**

**Hematite is a mineral variety of iron oxide. Its color may vary from steel-grey to almost black, from brown to reddish-brown, or red. Hematite is opaque, with metallic shine. Its name is derived from the Greek word "haimatites" meaning "blood". Even water used during processing of hematite ore acquires a blood-red color.**

**Historians believe that hematite makes its wearer brave and strong-willed, promotes joyful, optimistic mood, emotional stability. It is a stone that helps to withstand ordeals. Hematite serves as reliable protection against an evil eye. Hematite was also used as a protective amulet from wounds during fight. It grants to its wearer invulnerability, but also constrains bouts of anger.**

**Hematite is a stone of magicians and exorcists. It enhances mental activity, balances YIN/YANG energies and emotions, and dissolves negativity. The force and the power of Mars is concealed in this stone that allows the wearer to influence other people.**

**RUBY – Fire Element**

**Ruby is one of four most expensive jeweler stones. According to one legend, Ruby and Spinel stones are hardened blood drops of battle dragons. Those born in December are recommended to wear or carry a Ruby stone. Ruby symbolizes love and health, royalty and power, dignity and beauty. Owing to its hot, flaring color, Ruby was always considered a stone of recovery, which strengthens heart and expels melancholy. In the antiquity, red Ruby was a symbol of passion and its pink variety - a symbol of tender love. In the East, it was believed that Ruby gives to its wearer "strength of lion, fearlessness of eagle and wisdom of snake".**

**Ruby helps to overcome forces of darkness, to fight fear. It is a stone of authority, excellence, but also of vanity. It brings to its wearer happiness and love. Ruby warns of danger by changing its color. Ruby protects from malicious spirits and evil spell, strengthens heart, restores lost forces, drives away melancholy, and awakens passion and sexual desires.**

**Ruby is recommended to fight paralysis, anaemia, inflammations, pains in the joints and bone tissues, asthma, heart ailments, inflammation of a middle ear, chronic depressions, insomnia, arthritis, chronic tonsil's inflammation and rheumatism. Ruby reduces blood pressure and treats psoriasis. It helps during nervous breakdown and drives away night fears. Ruby renders the surrounding air microbe-free, thus helping to fight epidemics.**

**A ruby is also the birth stone of July. **

**(Now that Miharu's stones are chosen, there will probably not be too many mentioned again. So, no more of this excessive information in the author's note. Sorry about that, by the way.)**

**GUEST REVIEWS:**

**ThatGuy - Haha, no, come back! Haha, I'm not sorry~ I hope the kittens helped you relax afterwards though**

**Guest - He will, eventually. It's gonna be a while till we get to the British Wizards.**

**According to my mental schedule, I have three more chapters till we see Kaneki. Holy shit, that's soon. Anyone else really excited?**

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter though!**


	6. Above the Noise and Confusion

**Imma just…slip this into your inbox and back away **_**really slowly**_**. Nothing strange going on at all. Pish, it totally hasn't been months, I have no idea what **_**you're**_** talking about. **

**(I think this chapter could be considered more fluff than anything else...but it's definitely needed for the next chapter.)**

**(I don't own Tokyo Ghoul or Harry Potter)**

* * *

"You can't just eat everyone that annoys you, Miharu," Toshiro chided as he walked out of the Sagashite iru Gakkō Headmaster's office. Miharu stalked beside his guardian as they strolled out of the disguised building.

Once the news of Shachi's imprisonment reached the ears of the Imperial Court, the siblings had Toshiro knocking down the door to the abandoned warehouse they had hidden themselves in. The ministry worker came with foster papers, allowing the two protection under an obviously human adult. No one would connect Rize and Miharu to the captured SS-rank ghoul.

But, now with Toshiro as their guardian, he was called in every time there was trouble. Like Rize talking back to a human teacher or Miharu trying to eat one of his wizard peers. After two years of being their caretaker, Toshiro swore his hair was turning grey from their antics.

"He shouldn't have insulted Father," the thirteen year old droned. No one was allowed to insult his family, not without grievous injures. The boy was lucky to have left their encounter with only a missing finger or two.

"What would your sister think about your behavior?" Toshiro asked, exasperated. If there was one person in the world that could temper the boy's homicidal urges, it was his purple haired sister. Not that she ever tried to. Instead, the wizard was sure she encouraged the behavior.

"I would congratulate my precious little brother," Rize commented, sliding out from the crowd of humans, falling in line with the duo.

"Of course you would," Toshiro sighed. "What am I going to do with the two of you?" the foster father was ignored as the siblings greeted each other enthusiastically.

"What's the plans for tonight, Big Sister?" Miharu finally asked, stepping out of the comfortable warmth of his sister's hug.

"Chaos and mischief, Miharu," the seventeen year old promised.

"If I have to bail your brother out of jail for destruction of property again…" Toshiro trailed off warningly. Rize chuckled, waving her hand in dismissal.

"T. the CCG was fun," Miharu informed the older man. The wizard rubbed his forehead tiredly. He was starting to think nothing would make the siblings be 'honorable citizens'. Troublemakers, the both of them. They were just lucky he was so high in the Ministry that he could bail them out before the Investigators had a chance to do a thorough check. No one looked at the siblings twice after an obliviate or two. He nearly had to drop the bomb about Miharu to get out of _that _political catastrophe. Not that his wards cared about the lengths he went to keep them safe, the ungrateful brats.

"Just, try to be back at the apartment before midnight?" he asked, knowing full well neither took him seriously enough for him to order them around.

Rize shrugged, grabbing her brother by his thin shoulder. "We'll see."

And they were off. Disappearing into the crowd like phantoms, blending in with the livestock masterfully.

Toshiro sighed. No, those two were going to make him prematurely bald instead.

* * *

"Please," a woman begged, her wide green eyes staring up at Miharu's singular stare. He crouched down to get a closer look at his prey, an unfortunate side effect of not being allowed to hunt with his glasses. A handicap he easily worked around, but one that was annoying all the same. No, she was still as pathetic looking up close. Disgusting. "Please, my children, they need me, I-I beg of you, ple-please."

The younger ghoul canted his head, watching the rivers of desperate tears collide with a bloody cut. He hummed, reaching out to poke curiously at the tear stained cut. The woman cried out, sobbing fearfully as the teen lathered his finger before withdrawing.

Bringing his blood soaked pointer to his lips, Miharu lazily lapped at the salty sweet treat. As he enjoyed his sample, he observed the woman.

It was always so strange to him, how they reacted the same way as the thin and large inhabitants. Begging and pleading.

Miharu wondered what dark secrets this woman had lurking in her basement. Did she have a monster in the dark, chained up and waiting for the day when he would finally, finally, be free?

He listened for a moment, but didn't hear Big Sister nearby, probably still hunting for something to sate her insatiable hunger.

After confirming he had a free moment, Miharu _reached_, carelessly tossing aside the woman's fear and panicked thoughts.

"_I love you so much," the woman whispered, gently planting a kiss on a small child's forehead, carefully tugging a space decorated blanket under his chin. "Sleep well, Hiro."_

"_Are they asleep?" a man asked from the threshold. The woman turned, taking in the other bed in the dark room. Another boy slept soundly, his slow breathing matching his brother's._

"_Yes," the woman answered, levering herself up. "Is Karin still up?"_

_The man shook his head with a grin. "Out like a light. You know what that means."_

"_Sleep?" she laughed._

"_Sleep," the man agreed._

_They embraced tightly, lips connecting lightly. _

_She loved this man, so much. This man and their children, the family they created together._

_She __**loved them so so much and she would never see them again, oh God, why her?**_

Miharu snapped back into his own mind, feeling the Woman in Red wrap her arms around his thoughts, carefully holding them close to her bosom.

Shaking off the strange sensation with practice, the ghoul frowned, eyeing the trembling, bleeding woman.

He couldn't find any secret, any darkness in her. She was kind and gentle, loving any who entered her domain.

"Sayuri?" Rize called cautiously, "Sayuri, what are you doing?" She leapt off the building behind her brother, landing lightly, her kagune flaring out behind her threateningly. Not that any in the ward _dared_ attack the siblings. The fools had some preservation skills. "Are you still not done?" she asked, noticing the green eyes that flickered in her direction over Miharu's masked head.

Lightning quick, Miharu's scythe kagune whipped out, neatly slicing the woman's head off. She didn't even have enough time to blink, a shriek at Rize's appearance dying with a whisper. Her head fell, bouncing once, twice, before rolling into a dark corner of the alleyway.

Rize followed the head, noting the unusual green eyes of her brother's prey. She sighed, running a frustrated hand through her short hair. What was with Miharu and woman with green eyes?

"Sorry Big Sister," Miharu straightened out, turning away from the headless corpse to acknowledge the other ghoul's annoyance.

"It's fine," she assured him, marching over to snag the disembodied head before they could forget it. They would definitely need it where they were going. She shoved it in Miharu's hands, ignoring the way he absentmindedly pet the human's long black hair, her eyes pressed into his stomach.

She made a note that the 'magical' therapist Toshiro had assigned to her precious brother wasn't working. Not that she was surprised. Miharu barely listened to their main caretaker, there was no way he would sit still and talk to an unconnected human, magical or not.

She was the only being left that he cared about, and he refused to 'burden' her with his troubles.

Rize snagged the corpse's ankle, lifting it up to carry it like a sack of potatoes over her shoulder. She didn't blink when the movement flipped the skirt of the woman's dress, revealing clean white panties.

"Well, come on, we don't have all night. Places to be, people to see, that nonsense," she grinned, peeked back to see a blank stare as her only response.

She withheld another sigh. One step forward…and two steps back.

Just another day then.

Using her kagune, Rize swung herself back onto the rooftops, ready for the long race to their final destination of the night.

Before following, Miharu paused, glancing down the head cradled in his bloodied hands.

It didn't matter that he didn't see the darkness. He knew it was there. All humans were evil, attacking without ever taking the time to understand. There was nothing worse than a human.

Miharu stabbed his kagune into the wall, climbing up to the rooftop where his Big Sister waited patiently for him. There would be obvious holes left behind, but in such a ghoul ridden area, it was to be expected. The Doves would think nothing of it.

Miharu chanced one last look down at Kanna Shimizu's green eyes as he faithfully chased after his sister.

Truly, they were the monsters. Not him and his sister. No matter what society said; humans were the real taint in this world.

They should all just _die._

* * *

They hadn't been running for long, maybe half an hour, when Rize abruptly dropped, free falling into a deserted alley, her kagune trailing behind her majestically. As the moon shadowed her form, his sister looked like an avenging angel, sent to deliver divine justice upon the sinners of this faithless world. To the younger ghoul, that wasn't too far off from the truth.

Miharu stopped at the ledge, leaning over to observe his sister, the head still carefully cradled in his arms.

She glanced up, her kagune furling behind her. "Miharu," she beckoned.

Miharu leapt without complaint, his own extra appendages folding back under his skin to be unleashed again at a later time. When the teenager straightened up, Rize was holding open a rusted metal door, waving her brother in with a grin.

The one-eyed ghoul immediately entered, not pausing to ask her where they were going. She would never harm him nor lead him to harm. She protected him, just like he protected her.

"Rize," a deep voice grumbled as the duo entered the ghoul lair. "And your faithful guard dog, Sayuri," the gruff ghoul noted. "To what pleasure do I owe your presence?"

Rize grinned, stalking forward, her hips swaying to a beat the other ghouls' eyes danced to. Miharu growled, his single hell fire eye sweeping the room, mentally marking each ghoul that _dared_ lay their unsavory stares on his Big Sister.

"Hagi," the purple haired ghoul purred warmly. She continued forward, wary ghouls parting before her as she bee-lined for their leader. "We brought you a treat, as a thanks for all of your hospitality." She bowed sarcastically, carefully, a sharp grin stretching across her face. The corpse shifted slightly, but the teen didn't twitch. While Hagi didn't react, his comrades snarled at her arrogant action. Miharu flicking his fingers threateningly was more than enough to silence the weaklings.

"Another human?" the ghoul grumbled, noting the disjoined body and head. Miharu pulled the head closer with a defensive frown, delicately petting the woman, _Kanna Shimizu's_, dirty hair.

"Only the best for you, Hagi," Rize assured, dropping the woman's body at the older ghoul's feet. "She's still rather young. Some left over fat from child baring. I'd say two brats-"

"Three," Miharu let slip. Used to his strange interjections, Rize continued and, after a quick once over, Hagi followed her lead. He wasn't one to talk around the pride, so Hagi's interest was understandable. Internally chastising himself for calling attention to his particularities, Miharu tried to focus on the head rather than the two ghouls.

"Personally, I prefer men, but I know you think them too gritty for you," his Big Sister chuckled, nudging the meal with her bare feet. Miharu petted the disconnected head, finding a strange sense of comfort in holding on to something. Perhaps he should do it more often. He didn't really need his hands while hunting, after all.

Warmth bubbled around his fingers as he caressed the head, slowly restoring the bruised and bloodied flesh. He hummed softly as his magic laced fingers ran through the woman's long hair, cleaning and brushing the locks. After a minute or two, he gazed down at his new doll.

Yes, that's what she was. His doll. Such a nice and pretty doll. Her face was as smooth as his mask and her eyes nearly as green as the Woman in Red who cooed at his mellow thoughts. She liked it when he was content.

"Sayuri," Big Sister barked. Miharu blinked, his single transformed eye meeting her hell fire pair. With a frown, Rize jerked her head meaningfully. It took a moment, but it quickly dawned on him what she wanted.

His grip on the restored head tightened for a split second. But, he could never refuse his big sister.

He heard the Woman in Red hiss as he lightly tossed the head to the scarred ghoul, his warm magic and hot RC cells dancing at her call.

Hagi caught the head with one hand, carefully turning it so he could gaze upon the corpse's last expression. He was surprised to see the meal in such good condition, not a single cut on it. Green eyes stared sadly back at him.

Hagi licked his lips.

"I'm surprised, 'Binge Eater'," the scarred ghoul mocked. "I did not realize you could be so loving towards your prey. You always seemed like one to play with your food." The ambitionless weaklings laughed, leering at his beloved sister.

She shrugged the insult off easily. "Don't go over thinking things, Hagi, we all know it's not your strong suit," Rize shot back. "My precious Sayuri was the one to retrieve your gift today; he is far more meticulous than I. A perfectionist, if you will."

"Surely not a gourmet?" Hagi asked with disgust. Miharu curled his arms around his front, already missing the comforting weight of the head.

Rize's lips tilted upwards slightly in a secretive smirk. "Hardly," she responded. As opposed to her needing extra food each hunt, Miharu barely ate at all. A handful of meat every other week was all the boy needed to keep his sanity.

When asked, he made comments about warmth and heat and an achingly gray basement full of hatred. Rize tried not to let her anger get the better of her after that.

If, for her next couple of hunts, she feasted on fat men walking with their skinny trophy wives, no one questioned her actions.

No one dared to.

Hagi hummed in discontent, his hell fire eyes sliding over to stare at Miharu's colorful mask. "You need to be more careful, Rize," he warned, turning back to the female ghoul.

She smirked, her bone white teeth glinting in the low light. "Oh?"

"Whispers of the feared 'Binge Eater' have reached the ears of the CCG," he stated. "Soon, they'll send out a pair Doves. I want you to ignore them, Rize. Ignore them, or bring down the guillotine for every other ghoul in the 11th ward." Rize's smile widened, smug satisfaction radiating from her slight form. Miharu shifted, heat pooling under his skin, prepared to burst out if Hagi or his ilk decided to get rid of the threat to their existence here and now. "Including," Hagi threatened, safe on his throne, "your beloved Sayuri."

Rize took a step forward with a loud snarl that echoed through the abandoned building. "Are you implying something, Hagi?" she purred.

"I know your kind, Rize," he informed her. "You are a _poison._ You destroy everything you touch. Soon, Sayuri will be taken and you will be the only one to blame."

The cavernous room was silent.

Miharu took a shuffling step forward, his own hell fire eye _burning_ with hatred for the older ghoul who _dared insult his Big Sister._ Familiar warmth itched at the tips of his fingers while one kagune slipped free of its confinement to wave through the heavy air.

"Sayuri." Miharu froze. "Let Big Sister handle this, okay?" Rize smiled softly over her shoulder, easing the boy's bubbling rage. Miharu took a deep breath, mentally pulling his abilities back into his core. When his single kagune obediently dissipated into blood red mist, Rize slanted her gaze back to the scarred ghoul.

"I will make one promise to you, Hagi," she crooned. "_I_ will be the one to kill you. Not a Dove. Me. Just remember that when you say such cruel things. Sayuri." Miharu perked up, his wide, attentive eye focused on his treasured sister. "We're leaving now."

He nodded, not designing to give the other ghouls a parting look as he turned his back to the angry masses.

"I look forward to that day, Rize," Hagi growled as the siblings strolled out of his little hideaway, where he cowered and waited in fear, like a feral dog in an iron cage. "Then we will see who is truly stronger."

Rize's only response was a sharp smile before the duo crossed the dark threshold, stepping out into the brighter light of the alleyway.

"Big Sister," Miharu muttered hesitantly. Rize took three more long strides before stopping with a sigh. She whirled around to face her little brother, taking in the slight hunch to his shoulder and the anxious twitching of his fingers.

She softened, letting her arrogance fade slightly at Miharu's reasonable fears. The appearance of Doves in the 11th Ward was a genuine cause for concern, not matter her confidence. Her mother and their father, the strongest person her brother ever knew, were both taken down by Doves. As much as he hated them for their cruelty, the CCG were still the bogeymen that hid under his bed. She swooped down before he could start doubting himself and pulled him into a tight embrace.

Miharu relaxed at once, melting into the familiar and comforting warmth of his big sister. Nothing could ever hurt him as long as Big Sister was around. Nothing could penetrate the safe circle of Big Sister's arms.

Anything that dared to even _try_ deserved to die.

"Rize," a familiar, but not welcome, voice called from the side, having been previously hidden in the deep shadows of the buildings.

Miharu buried his snarl into his sister's stomach, not giving the _intruder_ the satisfaction of seeing his displeasure. His mask poked unpleasantly at her skin, but she didn't flinch away from the magical porcelain. Her brother needed this more than she needed comfort.

"Banjo," Rize purred, her fingers carding through Miharu's hair gently, pulling him closer when he moved to face their favorite stalker. "Was there a reason you sought me out?"

Banjo hesitated, Miharu could feel his eyes watching Rize's tender actions and the feared Sayuri's unquestionable submission. "I-I just wanted to tell you it was a very brave thing you did back there," the shier ghoul stammered. "Hagi isn't someone that's easy to confront – you seem to do it so easily."

"That's because I'm not weak," Rize informed the older ghoul bluntly. Banjo froze, surprised at the cruel response from the kind looking girl still cuddling her ruthless hunting partner. "I am not someone that cowers behind a bigger predator, hoping to not be seen as prey. I am the Queen of this Jungle, not a petty hyena forced to scavenge after the corpses left behind."

Banjo flinched, the beautiful teen's words stabbing at him far more effectively than her kagune ever could. He knew he was weak, a spineless coward that would have been picked off by the Doves without the protection of stronger ghouls looking for grunts. He _knew_ this – he just wished Rize didn't.

Being a coward was not something to be proud of, even if it was all that kept the larger ghoul alive.

"Rize-" Banjo started. He wanted, no _needed_, to explain to her that he couldn't be brave, he couldn't fight back. He was loyal, the only strength he had. He was loyal and large, and that was all the mattered to Hagi. The scarred ghoul didn't care that Banjo couldn't unleash his kagune, that he was defective. Banjo would be _killed_, by a Dove or a kakuja, without Hagi.

Banjo had self-preservation, a trait ghouls prided themselves in.

"It is getting late, Sayuri," Rize cut him off, turning back to her brother, writing off Banjo's presence as insignificant. "You still have lessons tomorrow."

Miharu pulled away from the hug without protest. He knew a dismissal from his sister when he heard one.

"See you around, Banjo," the one-eyed ghoul waved good-bye, remembering the manners Big Sister and Father drilled into his head during the first week. Banjo was an annoyance, but he wasn't a threat to his sister yet, so it was only right to be polite.

"Bye Sayuri," Banjo returned shakily, his smile wavering when the demon of a ghoul grabbed Rize's hand like a child with their mother. Rize lifted the smaller ghoul with one arm, pulling him up to be carried. He dropped his head, his mask dissolving before it even touched Rize's shoulder. A single hellfire eye peeked out from the child's hair, daring Banjo to say anything.

It was best not to think about it, Banjo decided.

"Tell Hagi I hope he chokes on that human's bones," Rize stated over her shoulder as she calmly walked out of the alleyway, into the streets. From behind, they looked normal, almost human.

Banjo knew the truth, the monsters that lurked beyond their pale skin.

And he had never been so in love.

* * *

"Please tell me I'm not going to get a complaint about a massacre again," Toshiro nearly begged when his wards entered the house. The clock on the wall, the same one he had been watching for hours, the seconds tick-tocking by as he worried, read 3:00 am. It was only an hour later than the siblings usually came back, but a lot can happen in an hour. Toshiro knew that all too well.

In one hour, Rize was injured and Shachi was taken away. In another hour, Miharu had to drag his precious sister through the Dove infested alleys to an abandoned warehouse as she healed.

The ministry worker didn't think Miharu could take it if something happened to Rize. Not again.

Rize didn't answer, choosing to ignore her caretaker and stalked towards the staircase.

"Miharu's a growing boy, Rize," Toshiro tried again. "He needs his sleep, these long nights aren't helping him with his 'human' life."

Rize continued forward, her hands cradling her dozing brother against her. She started up the stairs, her feet light enough that if Toshiro hadn't turned to face his wards, he wouldn't have noticed she was leaving the room, even with his slightly amplified senses.

The wizard wondered just how many people she had caught with her silent footsteps. How many had she snuck up on and pierced, killing them before they even realized she was there?

Rize was truly terrifying.

"Don't drag Miharu into your messes, Rize!" Toshiro shouted, annoyed with the silence as the ghouls disappeared to the second floor. The only reason he took in Rize was because Miharu would never had left her behind. He didn't need the one-eyed ghoul trying to kill him to get back to the girl he considered his sister. It was too much of a hassle. But, he was starting to think that would have been better than allowing Rize to make the child an accessory to her crimes. "The CCG are calling for your head, not his!"

He heard a door click shut quietly and slumped into his chair.

He was getting too old for this bullshit.

* * *

Rize sighed, resting her back against the closed door for a moment.

She could not _wait_ until she was old enough to get away from their 'foster father'. She huffed, what utter bullshit. Neither of them needed a new father, they were perfectly self-sufficient. Toshiro did nothing for them, just nagging night after night, as if he actually cared about them.

Rize didn't know what the human wanted, but she knew it was connected to Miharu.

There was no way in _hell_ she was letting the old man _touch_ her little brother, for whatever reasons hopped around inside his stupid head.

She pushed off the door, walking towards their large, shared bed with careful steps, making sure not to jostle Miharu. It took years before her little brother didn't wake at her slightly movement, but the patience was worth it. There was no better feeling to the older ghoul than when holding her brother close to her chest, feeling his heart beat in time with her own.

She lifted the blanket and delicately placed Miharu down, smiling softly as he curled up to conserve body heat.

He was getting so big now, she realized. Already officially a teenager, he was up to her sternum when standing straight. Would he need her for much longer? Would she still be the center of his world in one, two years?

It didn't matter.

Rize slid into the bed beside Miharu, pulling the blanket over their head's as she curled up around him. Immediately, Miharu wrapped around her body, his head against her chest, his arms around her torso, and his legs tangled with her own.

She loved moments like this. It reminded her of their first night together, after she found him hiding behind a dumpster, covered in blood. The blood of his human relatives, as she later found out.

It didn't matter if Miharu didn't need her anymore. They were brother and sister, partners-in-crime, nothing would ever separate them.

She would _always_ protect him, even if she had to do it from the shadows. He was all she had left and she won't _allow_ him to be harmed.

No matter what, she will watch over Miharu, forever.

First things first, however. They needed to get out of this house, away from their overprotective warden. Just a little longer, and they would finally be free.

Rize smiled, her lips pressed lovingly against Miharu's hair, a dream of a world with just the two of them, forever, already dancing through her mind.

The 20th Ward sounded like a nice place to start.

* * *

**(I'm not sorry, Rize. Your time with Miharu is numbered. Let the countdown begin.)**

**I can admit that I've lost myself a little with this story. I still know where I want it to go and what I want to happen, but getting there is **_**hard**_**. **_**It's hard and no one understands.**_

**I've put an 'Update Schedule' on my profile that simply states how far along I am in a chapter. Hopefully, with this, I won't be getting questions about whether or not I'm continuing a story. It will take **_**a lot**_** for me to discontinue a story. Like, two years of not updating. **

**So, I decided that Imma call a group of ghouls a 'pride' after lions. A lot of them seem to think that they are the top of the food chain, so the title of the King of the Jungle fits them well. They're just a tad bit arrogant like that. Rize, being the boss ass bitch she is, would definitely be the Queen of the Jungle, with Miharu as her little cub. (I suddenly want a lioncub!Miharu. Hm, animagus maybe?) I mean, unless there's a fandom official title for a group of ghouls? I haven't seen one, but you never really know.**

**(Oh, look at that! No need for a gem section this time! Hurrah!)**

**(I'm definitely going back soon to see if anything needs editing. I haven't read this over in months, something is bound to rub me the wrong way now.)**

**Guest Reviews:**

**MidnightShadow35 – Yeah, Miharu is definitely not going to be mentally sound after everything from last chapter. I'm glad you're enjoying the story so much though!**

**Guest (1) – *****completely nonchalantly chucks the chapter at Guest (1) while screeching in apology for the wait***

**Guest (2) – Haha, thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the chapter so far!**

**(I am **_**so**_** not the only one surprised by how short this author's note is after last chapter's…)**

**Next chapter: Another time skip (about a year and a half I think). We finally hint at the Tokyo Ghoul timeline and Kankei even gets mentioned! And, I'll have those two omakes ready for action. Hopefully.**

**Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!**


	7. Just To Get a Glimpse

**Look, I _can_ get these chapters done in a timely manner. Funny that. Not even an entire month wait. That's at least better than six. Go me. Let's see if I can do even better for chapter 8.**

**The single purpose of this chapter is to punch you in the face a couple of times. Cause I'm evil and I really like Miharu and Rize interactions. I need to get my fill before shit goes down. Next chapter is when everything gets _really _emotional. I can't wait to write it, my gosh.**

**My goal this chapter is to make someone cry, even if it's just myself. **

**I don't own Tokyo Ghoul or Harry Potter.**

* * *

_Miharu did not know what was happening. Just a moment ago, he was dozing, snuggled up next to Big Sister in their apartment._

_Two months into their move to the 20__th__ Ward and one month after Rize gained guardianship of Miharu, the duo were enjoying their freedom from a sulking Toshiro while kicking down ghouls that were not happy with their forceful takeover. Some of the ghouls had been hunting in the 20__th__ all their life and having some young upstarts suddenly grabbing their territory from them left a bad taste in their mouths._

_The siblings solved those annoyances by_ _ripping out their throats_.

_Still, Rize made sure that they both got their rest every night after they had their fun. Rest was important for Miharu's growing body._

_So, that left the question as to what had dragged Miharu from the comfort of Rize's side? The one-eyed ghoul would find it and __**kill **__it._

_The Woman in Red snarled in agreement, the heat and warmth that she wielded bubbling at her boiling hatred._

"_Is that right?" the old man that Miharu had been following said. The ghoul has only been able to see the back of the human's head so far, but the teenager figured the man had stumbled upon one of those 'Dark Wizard' sects the __Sagashite iru Gakkō __professors liked to lecture about before Big Sister pulled him from the system. "Lord, is it? Well, I don't think much of your manners, My Lord. Turn 'round and face me like a man, why don't you?" Miharu floated upwards to stare over the human's shoulder at the so called 'Lord', just to be faced with the back of a high chair and a rat faced man._

_"But I am not a man, Muggle," said the cold voice, barely audible now over the crackling of the flames. "I am much, much more than a man. However...Why not? I will face you...Wormtail, come turn my chair around." _

_The pathetic servant, who reminded Miharu of a reason why he despised humanity, gave a whimper in response. _

_"You heard me, Wormtail."_

_Miharu flinched back, his forehead erupting in a blaze of pain as the Woman in Red shrieked. She never spoke to her charge with words, but that did not diminish their communication. If anything, her lack of talking made the ghoul more comfortable with her. A voice in his mind, one that only he could hear? The warmth and the heat already tip-toed that line and Miharu's delicate sanity did not need the unnecessary strain. _

_Through the encroaching darkness of a debilitating migraine, the ghoul saw the rat-man move._

_Slowly, with his face screwed up, as though he would rather have done anything than approach his master and the hearth rug where the snake lay, the small man walked forward and began to turn the chair. The snake lifted its ugly triangular head and hissed slightly as the legs of the chair snagged on its rug. And then the chair was facing Frank, and he saw what was sitting in it. His walking stick fell to the floor with a clatter. Miharu opened his mouth and let out a scream, the pain finally becoming too much to bear. He was screaming so loudly that he never heard the words the thing in the chair spoke as it raised a wand. There was a flash of green light, a rushing sound, and Frank Bryce crumpled. He was dead before he hit the floor._

_Red eyes, reptilian and disgustingly human, stared into Miharu's single hellfire eye and lit up with unadulterated loathing. _

"_Potter…" the cold voice hissed as the teenager finally allowed himself to succumb to his pain. _

* * *

Miharu woke with an agonized screech. He writhed in his blankets as he desperately tried to ease the stabbing in his skull.

It was consuming him, this burning that felt worse than the hunger and the sorrow that Miharu had become used to in the grey room. It was pounding, thump-thumping inside his head, as if a giant was banging on the door to his thoughts. It tore through his mind, tearing away at his _threads_ of sanity, snapping the strings like they were mere cobwebs instead of the cable cords Miharu needed them to be.

He couldn't see anything other than the sick red that tried to devour him, as if he were the prey and not a feared predator that stalked the nightmares of hundreds of man-eating ghouls.

The warmth flooded his senses, trying to calm him and the Woman in Red tugged his consciousness against her chest, where it would be safe from the destructive invader.

It was too much, too much, _too much. _There was _something else_ inside his _head,_ _scurrying around_ like a _rat. Prey trying to usurp the king of the food chain, food with the eyes of a proud serpent._

Miharu sobbed, his limbs twitching as he shakily lifted his nails to his eyepatch, clawing at the fabric to reach the fragile skin beneath. He had to break the connection, shred this _insect_ from him head and beat it with its own shed skin. He _had_ to _rip_ it _out._

Warm hands gripped his wrists, pulling his physical head to rest against another soft chest as unsteady fingers carded through his long hair, fluttering around the enflamed forehead that throbbed with every motion.

"Miharu, Miharu, baby, what's wrong?" Rize pulled her brother closer, even as he flinched away from her voice, his kakugan searching around the room frantically.

The older ghoul had panicked she awoke to Miharu screaming, his limbs lashing out at anything in range. The boy had been inconsolable, not noticing her desperate calls and stuttering coos. He just kept flailing.

Rize had enough when she was forced to the side as her baby brother moved to claw out his right, human eye. He might be getting stronger and stronger, almost frighteningly so, every day but she was still his big sister, still the feared Binge Eater, and she restrained him easily, pressing his ear against her ribs.

His breathing deepened and his shaking slowed as he focused on her heartbeat, his head nodding to the tune.

"Shush, baby," Rize hummed, carefully untangling a knot from her little brother's long hair. "I'm right here, no one can hurt you when I'm here," she swore, feeling Miharu clutch at her shirt, finally coming back to reality.

"Big Sister…" Miharu muttered, refusing to move just yet. He was still shaking and his body was cold. He felt as if someone had walked over his corpse, breaking brittle bones as they trampled over him. He felt devastatingly weak. Was this what is was like to be _human?_ Fragile and feeble?

"I think you should go back to sleep, Miharu," Rize responded, taking in her brother's condition, making note of everything to talk to Toshiro about the next time she ran into the Ministry Officer. Or, she could hunt him down tomorrow morning, when the werewolf descendent was on route to work. This seemed important enough to actually seek their 'foster father's help sooner rather than later.

"Don't you…" Miharu flattered, trying to gather his memories. They kept slipping through his fingers, leaving only crimson eyes glaring at him as a woman-_no, it was a man, Frank, the old man, there was no woman-_ screamed and green flooded his vision. "Don't you…"

He paused, taking a deep breath. He thought back to the last thing he could recall with clarity. Big Sister had taken him out to hunt with her. She had found a small party of humans without proper protection at the nearby Aqua Building and Miharu kept watch while she had her fun.

But a member of the mysterious ghoul terrorist organization Aogiri, the S-Ranked Jason, had slipped past him somehow, intent on conversing with his gluttonous sister. Forced to abandon her meal, Rize left still hungry.

The next day, she had found a new prey while Miharu was doing some supplies shopping at the Imperial Court's Kigiku Alley when she went to check in with Mr. Yoshimura at Anteiku. As their current 'safe house', Rize made an effort to let the older ghoul know when something of import was happening around the Ward.

An Aogiri Executive appearing to recruit her was definitely important enough to drag Rize to the ghoul-friendly coffee shop.

And, as a bonus, Rize found her next meal, a scrumptious boy that she told Miharu all about before they went to bed.

She had been planning on sharing the boy with her precious little brother; he looked delicious enough to satisfy the younger ghoul's adorable sweet-tooth. However, she decided as she watched Miharu struggle to recall their scheduled hunt and his entire body flinch at the faint sounds of movement from outside their apartment, their usual bonding experience of sharing a kill will have to be put on hold.

"A…hunt," Miharu remembered, his brow furrowed as he struggled to dredge up the finer details.

"Yes, a hunt," she agreed, levering them up so she could lean on the thin wall, allowing Miharu to flop onto her lap. Absentmindedly, Rize started to braid his hair, knowing the teen hated it when his hair fell into his slightly blurry vision. "You should stay home, however."

"No," the one-eyed ghoul frowned. "What if something happens to you?"

Rize laughed, leaning over to press a kiss over Miharu's eyepatch. "I like to think I am stronger than my fourteen year old little brother," she teased, nipping at his nose gently before straightening up. "You're obviously unwell, Miharu. I can't have my partner passing out on me, especially not with those Aogiri fools sniffing around places they aren't wanted."

Miharu glared, hiding the expression from his sister by pressing his face into her leg. Aogiri – they were the reason Big Sister had to move her plans up, pulling him out of his classes to be homeschooled and dragging them halfway across the region.

Next time Miharu saw that pathetic excuse for a ghoul, he'll _destroy him: _for interrupting Big Sister's meal, seeing Big Sister naked, and planning to hurt Big Sister. There was no way he could let the brute live.

"I don't want you to go alone," Miharu tried, peaking his hellfire eye up at his smiling sister.

"How about this," Rize countered. "If you stay home tonight, I'll take you to see Shuu tomorrow. You seemed fascinated when he spoke about meal preparation last week."

Miharu hesitated. He hated the Gourmet for capturing his sister's attention, but she seemed to enjoy the slightly older ghoul's company. She always had to laugh at his mixed languages and passion for cooking. And they read the same books, sharing a passion for literature that something Miharu never showed an interest in. He preferred practicing his abilities or spending time with his sister than indulging himself in things that do not exist.

He had his fill of fantasizes and what-ifs growing up.

But, if there was one thing the Gourmet was useful for, it was in making Rize happy. His sister preferred to eat straight from the source, in an orgy of corpses so that she could bathe in their blood. Their debates on traditional eating and human-influenced eating always left the Gourmet with a snarl and Rize chuckling for hours.

Miharu knew her well, however. Her smile would falter when a human girl was presented with a home cooked meal or asked out to a fancy restaurant. Rize has no need to make a tournament out of her game like the Gourmet's Ghoul Restaurant does, but she wants to be treated. She wants to be loved.

Miharu forced himself to pay attention to Tsukiyama's ramblings in hopes of finding a dish that his sister would love, something to make for a special occasion. Something they could eat at the table like those human families on T.V. instead of on the grimy ground of an alley.

"We can even stop by Anteiku again," she sweetened the deal, smothering a smirk when Miharu paused. "I know you like to talk to Devil Ape and Black Dog about their old gangs."

The one-eyed ghoul huffed. It wasn't his fault the former rivals were so fascinating. They were once the ghouls to be feared in the 20th Ward, and, unlike Father, they were never caught. Miharu hoped they would be so lucky.

Sayuri and the Binge Eater, together forever.

She frowned when her little brother continued to hesitate. It might be rare for the sibling duo to separate, but it wasn't unheard of. His refusal was concerning, especially with all of the bribes she was offering him.

Did he not understand that she was just worried about his health? She didn't know what she would do if something happened to him because she allowed him out with her when he was unwell.

"Nothing can hurt your Big Sister," Rize assured him, poking his ribs playfully. "Worry about yourself before you collapse on me, got it?"

Nothing could hurt Father either, Miharu wanted to argue. No one could beat him and he's gone, stolen away by greedy humans. The humans only know how to _take._ First, Rize's mother, then Miharu's childhood, and finally Father.

Miharu didn't want them to take the last bit of happiness he had left.

But, Rize was right. She was her father's daughter, stronger than the corpse feeders that scurried around her feet and feared for her large appetite that worked so well with her brutality. And, if Miharu wanted to keep her safe, he needed to get better.

Even as the details of his nightmare faded, his mind snagged at lingering rough edges and his body wavered at simple commands. His hands were still shaking, hidden as they were under the blankets.

He nodded jerkily, not wanting to voice his acceptance. He tasted ash on his tongue.

"I have a couple of hours before I have to get dinner," Rize informed him. "Let's spend that time together and play a game or two, just you and me. I don't think we've had the time to truly bond since we got here."

With all of the ghouls trying to stake a claim in the 20th Ward, Miharu wasn't surprised. Though they beat down dozens of ghouls each night, they kept coming back. Some were more persistent than others, of course. Before Big Sister decided to make Anteiku's crew their safe house, the siblings had to deal with the territorial waitress, who was foolishly brave. That, or ridiculously stupid.

He heard rumors about her younger brother though…

If he ever showed up to take Rize like that horror movie reject, Miharu will not hesitate to kill him, tentative alliance with his older sister or not.

"What do you want to play?" Miharu wondered, nuzzling Rize's leg affectionately as she softly racked her long painted nails down the sides of his head.

"I Spy," she offered, looking around their sparsely decorated apartment, just barely smaller than the one they shared with Father when Miharu first joined their tiny family.

"I spy with my little eye," Miharu started, doing a quick scan of the area. "Something red."

Rize hummed, following the path Miharu had just taken, checking for anything blaringly obvious. "My glasses?" she guessed.

Miharu shook his head, relaxing into the warmth of his sister's lap.

She muttered quietly to herself, skimming the room again. "_Your_ glasses?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, his single eye sliding shut involuntarily. He was just _so _comfortable, wrapped up in Big Sister's embrace on the outside and the Woman in Red's on the inside. He could still distantly free _something that did not belong_, but he recognized it now that the fearful haze was dimming.

It was the slime that the Woman in Red watched over, keeping it caged as she protected him. It had always been there, hissing dark murmurs that she easily cooed over whenever he was injured.

It was cold and bright, always trying to freeze him from the inside out. Miharu recognized the chill from the grey room. He had no doubt the slime took that 'form' to unnerve him, to shake him. Miharu was stronger than that, however, empowered by the warmth, the heat, Big Sister's love, and the Woman in Red's raging fury at all that dared to wish him harm.

"I spy something green," Rize continued, staring down at her little brother. His eyes flickered open as he returned the stare, startled from his thoughts.

"My eyes," he answered after a moment.

Rize giggled, nodding. "Yes, got it in one! You're good at this, Miharu," she praised.

"You let me win by making it too easy," he told her. "I spy something purple."

"Now who's making it too easy?" she demanded, huffing. "_My_ eyes."

"Wrong," Miharu denied with a smirk, letting his eyes slip shut again. Rize blinked in surprise.

"My hair?" she tried, reaching up to finger at her grown out locks. Most of their supplies was a standard black and white, making it easy to find vibrant colors. But, her brother was always a tricky one, picking things she would never think of.

"No," Miharu murmured, yawning silently. He could feel himself beginning to drift off, but he wanted to hear Rize admit defeat. While it was rare for him to beat her anything, he was the King of I Spy. Though, his target was a bit cheatsy.

"I give up," Rize admitted, slumping against the wall. There was nothing else purple in the room. She knew there was purple in their closet and drawers, but nothing in her immediate line of sight. When Miharu didn't tell her his target, the older ghoul glanced down, expecting to find him smiling proudly to himself, inwardly gloating at his victory.

Instead, her precious little brother was dead to the world, breathing deeply as he slept.

"I'll just ask you when I get back," she sighed, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "Hopefully, you won't have any more nightmares when I'm out." Rize leaned back, resting her head on the wall as her eyes started to feel heavy. "I'll just…take a small nap before getting ready."

She was asleep in minutes.

* * *

She woke up two hours later, her mind fuzzy with the last vestiges of sleep urging her back to bed. However, her spine cried out at the awkward position and her bladder demanded her attention, so Rize carefully pulled herself away from her brother, tucking him in properly as she fled the bed.

Making a quick stop at the bathroom, Rize set about getting ready for her date.

She was tempted to wake Miharu up to brush her hair or to get his opinion on her outfit. But, he needed his sleep. She didn't know what happened earlier and she doubted Miharu would ever tell her. He looked so shaken, so frantic. He looked scared.

The mere thought was laughable.

Her infallible rock of a little brother, scared? She speared ghouls for insinuating less. Her brother was a sword tempered in the barren wasteland of humanity, not a single inch of his shiny length rusted from their misuse. For him to be so _terrified…_

Yes, Rize would have _words_ with Toshiro. If this had something to do with her pulling Miharu from his magic lessons, she would have to hire a tutor. She would not stand for her actions to hurt her last remaining source of happiness.

Maybe, just maybe, she really was poisonous, like Hagi had said.

A sadistic, bloodthirsty grin spread across Rize's face, recalling the horrified look on the scarred ghoul's face when she tore him apart, one limb at a time. If she closed her eyes, she could remember that day, just two months ago.

Miharu had been beautiful, slaughtering the weak, ambitionless ghouls as she took down Hagi. She had no need for the annoying pride and they would have gotten in the way if she had let them live.

Her brother had been like a force of nature, cutting down ghouls with each swing of his scythe-shaped kagune. Covered in blood and smiling serenely, Rize thought her brother was the avatar of Death, come to bring judgement on those that dared to defy him.

But, Rize frowned, turning to look at her brother as he huddled under the mound of blankets. Even Death was afraid of something.

And, apparently, that something was haunting her brother.

Yes, after her date, she'll need to find Toshiro and learn more about her brother's world. Whatever it took to keep him safe and happy. No matter what, as long as she could see him smiling, Rize was content with their life.

She slipped on a white dress and tied her hair into a lose side tail, allowing the ends to trail down her chest.

Her hair was nowhere near as long as Miharu's, which was never cut at her insistence and now fell to the back of his thighs when braided, but she was getting there. She envied his hair, but shorter hair was always more practical. Since they were strong enough to be allowed such a blaring weakness, Rize had stopped cutting her hair, determined to catch up with her brother.

Tugging on her magenta coat, a present from Miharu on her nineteenth birthday that was laced with every protective ward the young hybrid could find in his former school's extensive library, Rize fixed her glasses on her face, smirking.

She stalked over to Miharu's bundled form, pulling the blanket down so she could gaze at his peaceful face. She saw no signs of an encroaching nightmare, nothing that would prevent her from meeting up with her dinner.

Rize sighed, but dropped a kiss above Miharu's ever present eyepatch, something that he refused to remove unless absolutely necessary, even when she was the only one around.

She was starting to think that he was disgusted with his human blood.

"I love you. I'll be back before you wake up, so don't you dare leave that bed," she whispered and stood, reluctantly marching towards the door. With one last check behind her, as if Miharu would lurch out of his nest and start screaming, Rize wrenched open the door, clicking the lock as she stepped out.

Steeling her heart from her worries for her beloved baby brother, Rize thought of her waiting meal, the sweet boy that looked absolutely _delicious._

The ghoul licked her lips as her hellfire eyes flashed for barely a moment in tightly restrained glee.

* * *

_Rize loved it when they ran from her. It always made the hunt so much more thrilling. _

_The tears, the horrified look, the stumbling…she wished Miharu was here. Her darling little brother would have enjoyed watching her meal struggle for every extra second of life. He had such a sadistic streak towards humans._

_Feeling that the human had gotten far enough, Rize reached out with her kagune, twining it around his leg and tugging sharply. The human flailed as he fell, the solid thunk his head made against the ground causing a shudder to run up Rize's spine. _

_She smiled benignly, leaning over to talk to her terrified meal. "Got you," she sang teasingly. "Kaneki, this must be the first kagune you've seen," she started, waving one of her tentacles around in demonstration. The human's eyes followed the movement warily, appearing to have forgotten about the three other limbs that flared behind her. "I'll going to gently scramble up your insides with it now, okay?" _

_She arched her kagune down, ready to spear the boy and eat, she was beginning to get hungry. Unexpectedly, the boy attacked, trying to stab her with a simple pen. She blocked instinctively, forgetting the impossibility of him harming her with human devices in favor of her muscle memory._

_In her lapse of concentration, the human slipped from her grasp, stumbling away. She snarled, annoyed now. She was __**hungry.**_

_Rize took a step forward, treading on the magenta coat she threw off when she had revealed her kagune. Twisting her hips, she swung her extra appendages at the fleeing human, slashing at his side. She laughed maliciously as warm blood splattered through the air and the boy tumbled to the ground. _

"_I love bodies like yours, Ka-ne-ki," Rize informed the unconscious human as she casually approached. "All soft, not too much fat and not too much muscle. You're just right." She giggled to herself for a moment, before canting her head as she observed the human. "I think…I'll bring your heart back to Miharu as a treat. Or your pretty grey eyes, I know he likes those. Maybe that will make him feel better." _

_Over the sound of Kaneki's heart sputtering out and the sharp scent of blood, Rize sensed something wrong. There was a strange whistle rushing through the air, like something falling. Something large._

"_Oh?" Rize looked up curiously, her hellfire eyes locking onto the rapidly approaching girders. "No!"_

_The sounds of the girders crashing on top of her reverberated through the air, until all that could be heard was the labored breathing of a dying human that barely escaped the wreckage._

* * *

Miharu, miles away and deep asleep, woke up with an echoing wail, his hellfire eye ablaze as his human eye burned behind a single purple strand of hair that sealed away the truth of his existence.

Something was wrong.

Something was so very, very wrong.

_Where was Big Sister? Where was she? __**Where was Rize?**_

The cold and empty apartment had no answer for Miharu's silent question.

* * *

**I failed at making myself cry. I know I'll get myself next chapter though. I feel a sting just thinking about it. (Or is that a maniacal grin, just waiting to burst free? The world may never know.) I wonder, did I get anyone?**

**I'm actually kind of nervous about this chapter. It has a _really_ important plot point in it, but it's still more for a transition chapter than anything else. The Era of Rize has come to a close and soon Kaneki will Rise. (ha, word choice.)**

**So, the first couple hundred words came with an excerpt from the Goblet of Fire. And the bottom couple hundred words are from the first chapter/first episode of Tokyo Ghoul. I don't own any of that. J.K. Rowling and Sui Ishida do. The Harry Potter timeline won't catch up for a while yet (like, ten chapters or something? I don't really know. It'll take a good amount time. Like, ten months story time.), but it's still important to the plot, as you can definitely see. **

**No one can argue with me about Miharu being weak after his dream-vision. Have you ever immersed yourself into the mind of a mass-murderer due to a chunk of their soul attached to your brain/soul reacting and then experience casting a killing curse? Yeah, that shits not gonna make you feel good. I would have issues if I just felt the second hand effects of Voldemort's fractured soul and insanity while being sound of mind. Times that by, like, ten, and you'll get Miharu right now. **

**In case I haven't mentioned yet, I'll be doing a bit of a mix of the manga and the anime. Some things will be according to the manga and some things will go along with the anime. You'll probably see it when it happens. **

**Hey, has anyone noticed my fixation on flowers? Cause it definitely exists. Kigiku Alley 'translates' to (Yellow) Chrysanthemum Alley. Chrysanthemum's flower meaning is 'Imperial' and is connected to magic and wonder. It fits the Magical Shopping Center much better than 'Diagon Alley' in my biased opinion. **

**We're gonna put a pause on all of the time skips now! Finally, consistency. I am not apologizing. They will be back. **

**I have such an appreciation for FF writers that put out 10k-25K chapters on a regular basis. I think 11k is my longest ever and that took me weeks of a solid hour of writing a day. Then again, there was a long of research done for that chapter, adding even more time. **

**Guest Review:**

**Akuma - You just missed the update by a few hours! Hm, I'll see if I can get the next chapter out around Halloween. The horror tag will come into play, so it should go nicely with the atmosphere. I make no promises though! **

**Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!**


	8. Beyond the Illusion

**(Okay, raise your hand if you love this title more than the last one. It just kicks me in the ribs every time.)**

**I so totally failed at updating in a timely manner. Again. My bad.**

**This chapter is a bit disjointed, to me at least. It's an attempt to match Miharu's disrupted state of mind. I think I failed at that as well. Subtle metaphors are not my forte.**

**I don't own Tokyo Ghoul or Harry Potter**

* * *

Miharu…was not having a good month.

"Please, I swear I don't know nothing!" the disgusting ghoul shrieked, his dirty nails clawing at Miharu's arm, trying to dislodge the teenager's hand. His broken nails scrambled against the boy's thin flesh, tearing into it in desperation.

The disgusting scent of ghoul blood, sour like sewer water, only made his victim even more frantic.

The one-eyed ghoul wiggled his fingers, not able to find comfort in the warmth that surrounded it. It all felt like _ice_, to him. He _knew_ ghouls were warm, if not warmer than humans. So, why was he so _cold?_ He felt as if he had been doused in water and left shivering in the middle of a snow storm.

Everything was muffled by the storm raging inside his head.

He couldn't feel the warmth or the heat or the Woman in Red. Everything was cold to the touch, his breath misting in the night air.

But, he could feel the serpent lurking inside his head hissing in glee, _squirming through his thoughts._ Its scales left ice whenever it moved and laughed. It coiled around the storm, lovingly cocooning it within his mind.

Miharu shifted his hand upward, stepping closer so he could reach into the ghoul's rib cage from his intestines. He felt slick organs give way to his intrusion, brushed to the side in his search for his prize.

Miharu assumed it was painful. The small-fry ghoul was screaming into his ear, a droning buzz drowned out by the white noise of the furious storm roiling inside.

He would have preferred to use his kagune, but the heat was just beyond his reach, slipping past his frozen metaphysical fingers every time he reached out for help.

His extra appendages had never failed him before, it was an unwelcome, but novel, experience.

"Where's Big Sister?" Miharu asked again, curling his stiff hand around the ghoul's heart, barely noticing the frantic beating as it contracted against his palm. It was a living snowball, soft and malleable in his grasp.

It just begged to be squeezed.

"Sayuri, I fucking swear man, please, I don't know anything!" the ghoul sobbed. His clawing left deep red lacerations on Miharu's forearms, blood oozing like slush; heavy, thick, and unbearably cold. "No one's heard anything from Binge in weeks, she just up and vanished!"

The angle was starting to get uncomfortable.

Miharu nodded quietly, slipping his arm out of the ghoul's guts, allowing the miscreant to slide to the ground, cradling his spilling organs protectively.

He huffed, trying to blow his long hair, loose and free, out of his face. It was almost as annoying at the blubbering mess at his feet.

"Thank you, thank you," the ghoul sniveled, his hellfire eyes glittering in the dim moonlight.

Miharu, silent and cold, thrust his hand out, stabbing through the ghoul's ribcage and piercing his heart. There was some resistance, of course –his hand was not designed for the bloody work the same way his kagune was. He made do.

He always did.

(He just barely felt a tingle spread across his hand, a small spark of warmth that died as quickly as it was born.)

Miharu's single hellfire eye scanned the small alley, checking each ghoul corpse for movement. It was a small group, only four ghouls, but they were tougher than the teenager had expected. He was still used to planning his opponents with Big Sister as his backup.

Blood slid down his arms, liquid nitrogen on his ice skin.

While the 13th Ward had never been his favorite place, Rize flourished under the abundance of ghouls. Logically, this would be the place to find her if she had decided to leave him.

Not that she ever would.

She _swore_ to him.

In the last month since she disappeared, Miharu had meticulously rampaged through each Ward, hunting for any hint of his sister.

And each day that she was gone, Miharu felt colder and colder, frozen to the core.

His kagune refused to appear after only nine days. The warmth, his magic, followed soon after that. The Woman in Red was the last to be silenced as Miharu numbed himself from the inside out.

He was totally and truly alone.

"Big Sister," he murmured. "Big Sister, where are you?"

The scent of blood and the stillness of corpses answered him.

* * *

"Manager?" Touka muttered watching the idiot struggle with consuming human food. This was starting to get pathetic. The former human was worse at being a ghoul than a new-born beastling. She came for some coffee and got a show out of her study break, it was just her luck.

Yoshimura tilted his head in question, turning his genial smile towards his young ward. "Yes, Touka?"

"Have you seen Sayuri lately? I mean, with Rize…" she trailed off uncertainly as Kaneki took notice of the conversation. Eavesdropping; truly, he was the perfect gentleman.

The idiot boy was tense, nearly vibrating at the mention of his date-turned-nightmare. Politely, he didn't interrupt.

"It is worrying," Yoshimura admitted. "Who knows what that boy will do if he can't find Rize."

Touka hesitated only for a moment. She wasn't one to mince her words and Miharu was definitely a piece of work that didn't need her pity.

But, he was just a child. A child who was probably lost and confused, all alone and wondering where his sister was. At least Touka had Ayato when her father disappeared.

That didn't make him any less a psychopath that was more likely to slice off her head than accept her help.

"I heard some rumors about ghoul slaughters," she started. "There is never any evidence of a scythe kagune being used…but, it's probably him."

The Manager's smile dropped, drooping into a disappointed frown at the news. "I would not be surprised. Rize once told me his first response to pain is hurting others. She seemed rather proud of that."

"Hurt others before they get the chance to hurt you," Touka acknowledged, folding her arms. She did not understand why the Manager accepted Rize's tentative alliance when the Kamishiro siblings were bat-shit insane on a good day. That flowery brat was going to be a ridiculous amount of work to put up with, she just knew it.

"I'm sorry," Kaneki cut in, bowing his head in apology. Touka's face twitched. This guy was astonishingly good at pissing her the fuck off. "But, who is this Sayuri? You keep mentioning Rize and you brought him up when you were fighting Nishiki…"

Touka huffed, tossing her head. "Sayuri is Rize's little brother and hunting partner. If he had been there that night…he would have torn you apart. Seems you have some form of luck, however twisted it is."

* * *

Miharu didn't know what to do.

Rize had been missing for over a month. He couldn't find a single sign of her, not even a flicker of her characteristic purple hair. He was lost and alone with no one to turn to – Father was in Dove custody and Big Sister was nowhere to be found. He was alone.

He was freezing, liquid nitrogen ran through his veins, circulated by the lump of ice others might call his rotten heart.

He hasn't been warm since he woke up, wrapped up in blankets and all alone.

Miharu couldn't look in a window without seeing the green eye she loved so much.

He wanted to claw it out. He wanted to leave his eye around Tokyo, wherever Rize might run into it and remember her little brother.

He wanted his warm, kind sister back. The sister that would tuck him in at night and hum childish songs while braiding his hair. The sister that would point out the best meat and remind him to eat.

When was the last time he ate?

Miharu couldn't remember, each day just a blur without Big Sister at his side.

It was only his promises to Big Sister that kept that hybrid moving forward.

_"Never cut your hair, alright?"_

_"You hear that? You're my baby brother from now on. And no one can take you away from me, Miharu."_

_"Family protects each other, Miharu. Even if they're dead, we protect their memory and their honor. Okay?"_

Miharu paused in the middle of the flowing herd, canting his head in thought.

Maybe the corpse-eaters would know where Big Sister was? Miharu didn't want to fight them, he could practically _taste_ the manager's terrifying strength. But, Rize had bargained safe passage for him, should anything happen. He would be welcomed inside, at least long enough for a question or two.

Once he knew where Rize was, the one-eyed ghoul would be on his way. He'd find Rize and take her back to their apartment and lock her inside. They were be safe and happy and warm there. (_And together, they just needed to be together- they don't need anyone else, they never needed anyone else)_

(Miharu missed the trilling call from the Woman in Red, who tried to reach out past the cracking ice that blocked her. She wanted to hold him close, to stitch the child back together before he fully accepted the truth that bared down on him.)

He just needed to get back to the 20th Ward.

* * *

"Miss Touka?" Kaneki called as the duo began their trek back to the 20th Ward, the unnerving experience of Uta's mask shop behind them. The young ghoul sighed, but paused, spinning around to face the curious college student.

"What, Kaneki?" she barked, resting her hands on her hips. Was it possible for her to go _one hour _without this idiot bothering her? Was that really too much to ask?

"I…was wondering if you could tell me more about 'Sayuri'," Kaneki fidgeted, smiling nervously as he twisted his fingers, missing the comforting weight of a book pressed against his chest. Touka took in his hesitant body language easily, noting to have someone, Yomo maybe, teach him how to not project himself through his movements.

The last thing they needed was for the idiot to tense up around Doves like a weak-link.

"No one knows his actual name," Touka admitted, leaning back against the railing, her gaze locking on the setting sun as the river far beneath the bridge bubbled. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her stare was distant as she spoke. "Rize has always been rather protective of him." She paused, scoffing. "Not that anyone is entirely sure Sayuri is a boy. He has long-ass hair, longer than Irimi's. Not much is actually known about either of them, but Rize debuted first and Sayuri followed soon afterwards."

"Why is he called Sayuri if it's not his name?" Kaneki tried to imagine the younger brother of the seductive woman he fell for. He failed to shake away the picture of a shorter Rize with longer hair and a wicked smile.

"His mask," she told him. "It's a porcelain mask shaped like an orange lily. I'm just surprised it hasn't broken yet, with all the fighting those two are known for."

"Orange lily…Sayuri," the former human muttered, looking up as the fiery sky as his mind fluttered around the strange name. "Revenge. I wonder against who?"

"Did you say something, Kaneki?" Touka questioned, scowling. Last thing she needed was for the Kamishiro siblings to give the weakling ideas. They had a bad habit of dragging bad luck everywhere they went. She already worried enough about Rize's kakuhou transforming the idiot.

She didn't want to think what would happen if Kaneki and Sayuri met. It was _asking_ for people to die.

If Touka believed in the gods, she'd pray that the flowery brat bled to death during his sister-hunt and never finds his way back to Anteiku. But, she doubted she was that lucky.

"Oh, right!" Kaneki exclaimed, catching Touka's attention before she could walk away again. At the rate he was going, the waitress had no doubt they would miss their train back. "Can you tell me what happened to Hinami?"

Touka was sorely tempted to kill the idiot before Sayuri even got the chance to sink his psychotic little fingers into his head, though.

* * *

Miharu could smell her everywhere.

Even over a month later, he could still faintly smell his sister everywhere. Places that they would visit often were still saturated in the scent, weak enough that he had to acknowledge Rize was nowhere nearby.

Tiger lilies, blood, and printed paper; Miharu could just stand and take in her scent for days.

The moment he re-entered the 20th Ward, the one-eyed ghoul was slapped with the familiar scent no matter where he went. Already, he could feel the perpetual chill warming, burned away by the soothing scent.

But, it didn't melt completely.

Not until he finally laid his eye on her again.

Miharu spent hours circling around, picking up and dropping trails, searching for a fresh scent. He just needed a clue, a single hint and then everything would be better.

It would all be okay, as long as they were together.

They were invulnerable, invincible, unshakable. They just needed to be _together_. _Forever and ever, never let them part._

With all of his deviations and distractions, it took Miharu a while to arrive at Anteiku. The coffee shop was lit, but a dim 'Closed' sign hung against the door. The faint light of dawn illuminated the street, revealing the lack of witnesses or potential patrons for the shop.

Miharu breathed in, catching the lingering scent of his sister, faint after a month. He could almost feel her fingers ghosting through his knotted and loose hair.

He liked the thought of that. Big Sister always being with him, everywhere he went.

Once they were _together again_, he would never leave her side. _Never._

Miharu raised his hand, fisted and ready to nearly knocked the door down to get the corpse-feeders' attention.

He paused, taking in the scents again.

Big Sister's scent should be fainter. A lot fainter. It was still too faint to be recent, but strong enough for her to have stopped by at least two weeks ago.

Other familiar scents filtered in, barely acknowledged as he basked in the lingering smell of his sister. Dozens of humans and low-life ghouls had walked through these doors. He recognized Rabbit, Old Man Yoshimura, Crow, _Gourmet_.

Gourmet, who detested the corpse-eaters just as much as Big Sister. He found them uncouth and tasteless.

Gourmet, whose scent mingled with Big Sister's and smelled strongly of corpses, fire, and silk. A rotten fruit clinging to the blossom of his sister's tiger lilies.

He didn't have time for the corpse-feeders and their maggot-ridden words nor for their false sympathy and poorly concealed relief.

He could smell Big Sister, a trail revealed to his senses now that he knew where to look. Gourmet, Tsukiyama Shuu, his sister's stalker. Of course he would know where she was, if anyone in the 20th Ward did. They were friends, fellow lovers of food and literature.

Maybe she was injured during her hunt and Gourmet took her in. It would then be Miharu's fault for leaving in a fury before checking with the older ghoul.

He was so _stupid._

He bolted from the threshold, the corpse-feeders far from his mind, missing the purple-haired waitress's call as she noticed the teen flee. She wasn't important enough, not in the light of his revelation.

Of course, of course, of course. (_How could he have been so stupid- idiot- it was obvious, it had to be him- she would have never left him- never, never, never)_

Rize was alive and well with Gourmet, she would never have left him. He should be ashamed of his doubt and fears, the cold whispers that he allowed to grab hold of him.

Miharu tilted his nose, trying to take in his surroundings completely. He felt the warmth, his magic, hesitantly reach out to assist, the Woman in Red's soft murmurs sorrowful and troubled. He paid her no mind, too overjoyed. (_No one else mattered- no one but Big Sister)_

The one-eyed ghoul raced through the Ward, vaguely thankful for the late time and abundance of alleyways. It would be just shameful is he led Doves to his sister in his haste to see her, especially if she was injured like he suspected.

Soon, it'll be Sayuri and Binge Eater, together again. The rogues of Tokyo, cutting down anyone in their way. Stronger than anyone, better than anyone; invincible.

He could already feel her at his side, loving and protective as her smile brightened his world.

It took Miharu a moment to realize where his magically-heightened senses led him.

There was a _perfectly good reason_ for the Gourmet to take Big Sister to one of his Ghoul Restaurants. Rize had only shown distaste for the other ghoul's hobby, but maybe she was hungry. Maybe she was starving and Gourmet coerced her into going, like he always wanted her to.

Or, maybe the bastard got tired of playing with humans and wanted more of a thrill, spending a month stuffing his poor sister while she was injured and now he planned to feast on her.

Maybe, maybe, maybe; there were far too many situations buzzing inside his head, fueled by a month of separation and the chills that bit at his fingertips.

He couldn't wait a second longer, every moment could mean Big Sister's demise. He needed to know that she was okay, Miharu had to see her with his own green eye that she was alright.

He needed to _hear her voice._

* * *

Miharu wasn't sure what he expected when he entered the Restaurant. He had been to one before, curious about the Gourmet's past-time, but this was something completely different.

It wasn't a detestable human squirming, begging for a chance of survival. This was something completely different.

The Woman in Red snarled, her wrath crackling through his veins when his eye alighted on the scene in the Death Pit. His expression grew stormy under his mask – _when did he put that one, Miharu couldn't remember, it hurt to think. The cold was waiting, waiting, waiting for a moment of weakness, hissing at the seams of his mind –_ his anger momentarily hidden.

Big Sister was down there, he could sense her. She was weak, pitiful gasps falling from her lips as the Scrapper grappled with her throat. The masked ghouls surrounding the teen roared with blood-lust, salivating in their desire.

At that moment, Miharu hated them. He hated them as much as the humans that chained him down and tore his family apart.

They were just as bad as they were, these hungry predators that desired his sister's flesh.

He wasn't like them. He couldn't stand back as his sister was tortured and tormented by the man she considered a tentative friend.

Miharu stepped forward, slipping between drooling beasts to finally see his precious sister, after over a month of chasing after ghosts and rumors.

The world faded to grey, everything suddenly dull. Big Sister was a bright spot of color, her black hair and candy red blood vibrant against the monochromic world. (_No no no, that was wrong- wrong- Big Sister's hair was purple, like grapes and amethysts and black like midnight, his sister was so beautiful with her black-purple-red hair. So so beautiful.)_

Miharu had forgotten how warm the world was. How beautiful his sister was.

Never again.

He was going to save her and bring her back to their apartment, lock all of the doors and cage her inside. Nothing could stop him; not Toshiro, not the corpse-feeders, and certainly not the traitorous Gourmet.

Oh, Miharu was going to have _words_ with Tsukiyama Shuu about his treatment of his beloved older sister. Loud, _painful_, words.

But, before all of the fun stuff…Miharu needed to get rid of that pesky Scrapper.

Of course, his only logical course of action was to throw himself into the Pit with his prey.

Miharu distantly heard screeches and cries as he leapt from the balcony, his kagune flaring out behind him. For once, he really didn't mind their annoying fear. He was too focused on the disgusting human monstrosity that dared to get between him and his sister (_the monster that held his sister in his giant fingers, playing with her like Miharu would play with a human)._

Miharu didn't have time to think of the older ghouls' reactions, too busy zeroing on the back of the confused Scrapper as he flew through the air. He ignored Gourmet (_traitor- filth- will __**devour **__him for this betrayal, leave him gasping and begging and pleading like Big Sister with those giant fingers clenched around her tiny neck – __**It pissed Miharu off**__) _as he tried to calm the crowds.

"Petite fleur!" Gourmet called. "Calme, petite fleur!"

The obnoxious ghoul was ignored, just like everything- everyone- else.

Miharu, admittedly, never much cared for the ghouls who kept humans around as pets. Locked behind cages and dependent on their masters, it reminded Miharu far too heavily of a past he tried to bury under happier memories of his sister. It was a connection that the teenager never wanted, never asked for with the beings he fed upon. A connection forged by a weakness that he overcame but they never would.

That dull twinge of kinship with the chained down humans did not stop the young ghoul from driving his three tentacles into the highly muscled human as he slammed onto the monster's back.

The one-eyed ghoul did not spare a second to appreciate the sweet smell of the human as he flexed his kagune, too distracted by the burning, roiling rage that welled up inside of him. It seared his veins, painting his vision red. His blood, black as the devil and covered in lives, hummed.

His sister was in pain, in need of his help, and this _human was in h__**is way.**_

Miharu felt the Woman in Red's battle shriek bubble up in his throat, breaching his mouth as his kagune puffed out, spikes piercing as many internal organs as they could. Twisting around and arching, Miharu managed to spread his green-veined appendages, powering through the initial resistance of the human's weak constitution. The human experiment barely had time to warble a squeal before the boy split his entire body in half. The sides were uneven, but Miharu was satisfied for the moment, his bloodlust stated as the human's intestines curled up on the tile floor like a fat snake and his blood poured down around him in a red cloudburst.

Behind his mask, the ghoul paused, taking in a deep breath as his eyes slipped shut. He allowed his anger-hatred-rage to boil to a simmer, a barely felt burning that shoved the chilling gray snake to the very edges of his mind. The Woman in Red cooed as the warmth and heat buzzed, happy with his contentment. He felt the blood soak into his clothing, adding unnecessary weight to the garments and more blood ran down his mask in rivers. His tongue jutted out, curious.

The blood tasted delicious, sweet and tempting. Miharu wasn't sure when he last ate and the blood called to him, a song almost as sweet as the Woman in Red's pacifying trills.

Alas, his moment of peace could not last. Miharu needed to grab his weak Big Sister and escape before the Gourmet got any funny ideas. Not that the one-eyed ghoul wouldn't happily lop off his head should the egocentric ghoul get too close.

"Calme, petite fleur," the Gourmet soothed, his twin hellfire eyes wide when Miharu finally tuned back in with reality. He was closer than the one-eyed ghoul had been expecting, finally having left his throne to enter the pit. Above them, he could make out hissed words of the hungry masses, his alias whispered with fear and disgust. He and his sister were not welcome in the Restaurant as they were considered too uncouth for the snobbish ghouls. Miharu just never expected them to dislike the sibling duo enough to _eat his Big Sister. _"What has set you off, frère de mon coeur?"

Miharu snarled, his teeth bared under his red-tainted mask. His kagune bloomed out behind him, three deadly petals merely waiting for an excuse to add the Gourmet to his dripping ledger. By now, he's killed ghouls for less than threatening his sister's life.

"Calme," the Gourmet hushed, his confused smile twisting his manipulative face as his eyes shifted over Miharu's shoulder. The younger ghoul's snarls increased, processing the motion as a threat against his injured sister. She was breathing heavily, her heart puttering quickly in fear. Her scent was worryingly weak, but he could deal with that latter, when she was no longer in the Gourmet's kitchen, inches from his plate. "Are you alright, dear Kaneki?"

The name didn't register immediately. The Gourmet was known for speaking in languages Miharu didn't understand, so unfamiliar words were usually ignored. It was when a voice Miharu did not recognize responded from where Big Sister was standing that the one-eyed ghoul froze, the pleasant heat of anger chilling into horror.

"What? Tsukiyama?"

Miharu couldn't look. He refused to look. His mind was racing, his eyes trembling in incomprehension. That voice was so very, very, wrong.

"That was a bit of fun, was it not, Kaneki? Of course, I would have stopped everything myself before it got to serious, but my petite fleur did not find our game as amusing. Perhaps it is best if we all simply forget about what has happened," The Gourmet smiled. The heart behind Miharu sputtered in fear, skipping a beat. Ba-dump ba-ba-dump ba-dump ba-dump. The breathing shuttered, panicked and afraid.

Miharu's eyes followed the Gourmet's workers as they moved to serve the scrapper before the guests got angry, but he didn't truly see them. All of his attention was focused on the imposter with his sister's scent. The Woman in Red buzzed, her comfort falling short as his fingers started to quiver.

He was so _stupid._

Rize would never be weak enough to be caught. She would never leave him alone. She would never abandon him to fend for himself. She needed him just like he needed her. They were a pair and only death could ever separate them.

It was so _fucking_ obvious.

So, why did this little beastling smell like her? Why did this imposter invade his sense, flip all of his switches until all he could see was his sister?

_Why did he stand where she should be standing? Why did he breathe air she should be breathing?_

Miharu whirled around, his extra appendages splaying out around him threateningly. His single hellfire eye caught sight of the imposter, small and frightened. One red-on-black eye stared at him in confusion, set in a round face and topped with common black hair.

"Oh," the imposter breathed, a broken smile twitching onto his lips. "Thank you for saving me."

Miharu _hated _him. He was disgraceful and weak, with only one eye to proudly display his superior heritage.

And, most importantly, _he was not his sister._

Miharu shifted his hips, mentally urging his kagune to gorge out that eye, knocking off that head, pierce that bleeding heart. Anything, _anything_, to get rid of the imposter that dared to defile his sister's memory and trick him with lies. Lies and false promises and _hopes. _

(_Miharu just wanted her to be alive, was that too much to ask? Was he being too greedy? Was he being too selfish for wanting his sister-mother-protector to live forever and ever by his side?)_

His killer tentacles barely twitched before the fourteen year old ghoul realized his mistake.

He turned his back on the Gourmet.

The last thing Miharu saw before the Woman in Red dragged him into her arms was the imposter's wide eyes, one human and one ghoul.

He really _fucking_ hated humans.

* * *

**(Translations: petite fleur – little flower, calme – calm, frère de mon coeur – brother of my heart)**

**Oh, Miharu. If only you used a point-me spell, this never would have happened. You silly, silly demonic little hellion. **

**Yeah, a lot of snow/ice/cold metaphors. A LOT. I don't regret it. I feel really cold when shit goes wrong, so I just gave Miharu that little quirk. It fits with his warmth fixation. **

**It took me a while to make an approximate timeline for Tokyo Ghoul. At the start of this chapter, there was a month long time skip. (Yeah, I know I said I was going to stop the time skips. Apparently, I lied.) Kaneki was in the hospital for about a month. So, he's still just started adjusting to ghoulism by the time Miharu gets his shit together. They meet about five/six weeks after Rize first died, if that helps anyone understand what's going on.**

**Imma admit, combining manga and anime is harder than I thought. **

**I used Google Translate for the French, so I apologize for any mistakes. Each chapter Tsikuyama appears in will have him talking in a different language and he will rarely use two or more languages at a time. It's more for constancy/my sanity's sake than anything else. Also, Tsukiyama calls Miharu little flower; this will not change no matter the language. **

**I don't think I did well on the emotional end again. All I got was a maniacal grin.**

**I'm calling baby ghouls beastlings and no one can stop me! **

**Guest Reviews:**

**Guest – I'm sorry you feel that way! I've edited the summary so that everyone can know the story plot is a bit slow but this story is a bit of an experiment on my end of things. Slow build stories are kinda a favorite of mine and I wanted to try writing one. I'll look back and see if there's anything in the author's notes that I could take out, but most of the longer ones have information concerning the stones, which I absolutely refuse to get rid of. There's also the fact that I am answering guests, such as yourself, which does take up space. Hopefully, you find a story that matches your tastes! **

**I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter!**


	9. I Was Soaring Ever Higher

**LONG CHAPTER IS LONG.**

**Miharu's just a pissy little shit (and, like, seriously overdramatic). Ah haha, ah hahaha, ah ha, yeah, this kid's nowhere near okay. Like, the space between letters compared to the size of this chapter can describe how **_**not okay**_** he is. **

**So, like...ah, suicidal thoughts, dangerous obsession, and violence? **

**I don't own Tokyo Ghoul or Harry Potter.**

* * *

Miharu could hear them. Whispering, muttering, as if they were sneaky and quiet. As if he was still asleep, still unconscious.

"–be best if you were not in the room, Kaneki." An old weary voice. It wasn't The Gourmet, the traitorous beastling that he was. No, it was the older ghoul, the one who smelled of sadness and death, who held the reins of the corpse-eaters and lowered himself to a mere scavenger for his pathetic pity.

"He deserves to know what happened," a weak voice, the imposter, the fake, whispered. "He's Rize's little brother. I can't just leave him tied down like this." There was a strange distant – weak, weak, disgustingly _weak_ – steel to the other one-eyed ghoul's voice.

Miharu breathed in, scenting the air with the ease of an experienced predator. Humans, ghouls, blood, meat, _his sister_. Why, why, why, did that pathetic meat sack of a hybrid smell like his Big Sister? Why did her scent trail after him, clinging to his form as Miharu clings to her memory?

"Sayuri is dangerous, Kaneki. He is not a ghoul to be pitied," the wingless Owl murmured.

"I thought Anteiku exists to help ghouls," the imposter commented, bland and as threatening as a butterfly.

"Yes, it does," the old man paused, clothing rustling as he stepped towards the bed. "But the Kamishiro's have never needed our help, have they, Sayuri?"

Miharu graciously took the cue, lunging forward to snap his teeth at the _imposter_, his eye still closed. The Woman in Red crooned, whispering soothing nothings into his mind to swirl around with his rage. The _fake_ yelped, startled backwards, away from Miharu's clicking teeth. The one-eyed ghoul jerked to a stop before he could follow the _fraud_, before he could leap from the bed and tear out his throat, bathe in his bleeding crimson as Big Sister _held him tightly, praising him and together with him again – _his wrists pulled back, his body arching over the mattress before falling back with a grunt.

Miharu tugged at his wrists, his single hellfire eye glaring at the intricately designed handcuffs tying him down. They buzzed with a familiar warmth that caused the teen's upper lip to curl in disgust. (_damn you, Toshiro, damn you, damn you)._

"Fuck your _help,_" he snarled, yanking his wrist sharply, the Woman in Red smothering any bubbling pain as his bones creaked and his skin rubbed away.

"Don't _hurt yourself!" _the _imitation_ shouted, rushing forward, his heart beating loudly in Miharu's ears, a mockery of his sister's strong rhythm.

He clicked his teeth threateningly, eyeing the _disgrace to his sister's scent_ as he faltered, shuddered back in confused fear. _(weak, disgusting little halfling didn't deserve the gift of his sister's scent, didn't deserve her life)_

"Rize left us your guardian's number, should anything happen to her," the manager twisted the knife, his precious sister's name a joke on his tongue. Miharu's lower back _burned. _"Mr. Toshiro was gracious enough to give us cuffs to hold you. He seemed fascinated by our Kaneki, but resigned to his death. It seems Mr. Toshiro has a strange amount of faith in your abilities, Sayuri."

The old man's words mixed in with Miharu's rage, each syllable bending and breaking down into disgust and anger. He ignored it, the only sound in the dim room being their breathing and the loud clanking as he frantically tried to break the chains. (_get them off, get them off, he needed them off, they burned, more than the fire that raged and burned and seared his veins)_

"We don't want to hurt you, Sayuri," the ghoul continued, his voice deceptively pained. Miharu scoffed, gritting his teeth as the chains didn't even bend. He was stronger than he once was, capable of tearing through metal with his bare hands, what did Toshiro do to make these chains different? (This ghoul, with his gentle face and grandfatherly smile could kill him with barely a blink. Strength oozed from his dying shell like blood from his prey. Miharu wouldn't be fooled. _He refused to be fooled.)_

"You're Rize's little brother, right?" the _pretender _asked, skittering towards the bed. "Is Sayuri your real name?"

"I'm gonna rip you apart, tear you down and break you. I'll free her, she's just inside, _I can smell her_, _she's right there, beneath your disgusting skin._ _You can't keep her from me_," Miharu hissed. He could feel the cold creeping over his heart, the darkness folding in on the bright and warm Woman in Red. He didn't want to return to being numb, this spark served him better than the cold ever could. But, his sister was warm, his sister held him and murmured their promises to keep him warm and _she wasn't here._ "_I won't let you keep her from me."_

"I'm sorry for your loss, Sayuri," the ghoul tried to sooth his hatred. Tried to calm him as if Miharu gave a flying _fuck_ for his piss-poor sympathy.

He smiled. It wasn't a pretty smile, his teeth gritted and framed by his chapped lips as his hell-fire eye lit up his entire face eerily. "I'm going to kill you," he cooed.

He let it sink in, continuing to smile as the old man sighed, nodded, and turned away, waving his little pet towards the door.

"I'm going to _fucking kill you_!" he repeated in a shriek, arching off the bed enough that his kagune slipped from his kakuhou, his three trusty red appendages slicing through the air with the sharp determination of his desperate bloodlust.

The old man blocked with a single arm, wrapping all three kagune around his bicep. "Are you alright, Kaneki?" he asked the intended target as he ignored the bite of the one-eyed ghoul's extra limbs and the blood that now stained his pretty white sleeve.

"Me? Sir, are you _bleeding?_" the boy with one red eye floundered, fluttering his useless hands around the bloodthirsty kagune.

Before the _waste of space_ could _touch_ him, his three petals bloomed, spiking out threateningly as they hungrily bit into the flesh beneath them. The old man sighed as if disappointed.

"I am fine, Kaneki. However, it might be best if you leave the room. I feel your presence is angering our guest." The _thief_ hesitated, his fear and disappointment stinging Miharu's sensitive nose.

"Don't–" he fled, clicking the door shut as he left Miharu in the dark, chained down and hungry. Big Sister's scent lingered, weak and filled with fear. Miharu needed her, needed her more than he needed the Woman in Red or the warmth or the heat. He would give up his gifts, his precarious tether to sanity to _see_ her again, to _hear her voice. _"Go," he finished, feeling the world closing in around him, the reality of being _so damn alone_, crushing him against the lumpy bed.

He was gasping, struggling to draw breathe. His faithful kagune slipped off the watching old man, feeling the walls for an escape, for space, _for a moment to breathe_. He needed to get out, to kill the fake (_to save his sister),_ to break the Gourmet (_save her, he needed to save her)_, _he needed out of his chains._

"Yomo will bring you food tomorrow, Sayuri," the old man spoke up. "We won't hurt you, child. We want to help you heal from this blow. But, we can't help if you don't want it. You must let us in."

His extra limbs abandoned their search for an exit, finding nothing other than the door, not even a window to mark the passage of time. They drifted towards the hyperventilating hybrid, two cocooning him as the last kagune fiddled with his right cuff.

Miharu didn't hear when the old ghoul stepped forward or when he reached the bed. He was too caught up in his memories, his wants, _his needs_, to notice until the wingless Owl rested a chilled, crimson stained hand on the one-eye's forehead.

Miharu froze, terrified, his breath locked in his throat as he stared up at twin hellfire eyes, older and stronger than his precious sister. His camellia scent surrounded the younger ghoul, smothering his senses and suffocating him as surely as a hand against his throat. The older ghoul was smiling. A true monster.

Miharu threw himself into the Woman in Red's arms, his body slumping into the sheets as his kagune dissipated into red mist.

He wanted no part in this world without his sister. He wanted everything to _just __**stop.**_

* * *

"–_There with fantastic garlands did she come. Of crow-flowers, nettles, daisies, and long purples. That liberal shepherds give a grosser name, but our cold maids do dead men's fingers call them. __There, on the pendent boughs her coronet weeds. Clambering to hang, an envious sliver broke;_–"

He could smell her. She was home and happiness and safety. She was love and hope and the light. She was everything he needed to continue living. Her voice could call him back from _death._

"–_When down her weedy trophies and herself, fell in the weeping brook. Her clothes spread wide; and, mermaid-like, awhile they bore her up: Which time she chanted snatches of old tunes; as one incapable of her own distress__–"_

Miharu's eye slipped open, drowsy and lethargic. He scanned the room – dark, a single desk and chair set, a bed he was lying in, no rug, no windows, soft light spilling in from the bottom of the only door – and saw no one. The voice, male and vaguely familiar, continued.

"–_Or like a creature native and indued, unto that element: but long it could not be, till that her garments, heavy with their drink, pull'd the poor wretch from her melodious lay, to muddy death.__–"_

Miharu groaned, twisting to get pressure off his numb back, preferring to sleep in a ball, tucked against his sister's side. The chains, those damn despicable chains, held him back.

The sounds disturbed the voice.

"Sayuri? Are you awake?" he called. Miharu could hear him snap a book shut before shifting to block out the sliver of light. "Sayuri?"

It came flooding back; his sister, the Gourmet, the Ghoul Restaurant. The _fake that scrambled his senses, who dared to fill up Big Sister's spot and smell like her. _The same fake who was whispering, muttering outside his door as if he had a _right to calm him._

_(The serpent lurked, laughing and twining around his throat, hissing as the cold bit at his thoughts. Coiling around the Woman in Red, the serpent laughed and laughed and laughed – Miharu could hear the high-pitched cackle as his world trembled.)_

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up! Shut up! _Shut up! Shut up!" _Miharu shrieked, squirming violently as he tried to clasp his hands over his ears and block out the out-of-place voice (_and the serpent, just make them stop, make them shut up)_. Maybe…maybe, when he got free, Miharu would keep the fake. Just, rip out his voice, _make him shut up_. Then, it would be like Big Sister never left. As if everything was back to normal and they could be happy. Happy and together and _alive_.

_He just wanted his sister back. He wanted the woman who raised him, the first person to look at him, to look at a freak and love him. (He knew better now. The world saw fit to teach him freaks were not supposed to be loved. Freaks deserve loneliness. They deserve to be chained up and locked away, forgotten and forsaken.) _

"My name's Kaneki Ken," the _fake_ continued, a worried waver throwing off any similarities he had to Miharu's stubborn, strong, predator sister. "I knew Rize. Actually, I was the last person to see her alive."

Miharu froze, his wails locked down with a choke. He didn't want to hear. He didn't want to listen to whatever this weakling, this disgrace had to say. He meant absolutely nothing. But, _he smelled like Big Sister. He knew what happened to Big Sister, why she was gone. _

"I…" the _fake_ trailed off, his heart beating quickly. "We were on a date."

("_I have a couple of hours before I have to get dinner,_" _she grinned.)_

"Afterwards, she asked me to walk her home. She- She led us to construction site. There was no one around and I…well, I didn't suspect a thing. Ghoul attacks always happen to other people, a distant horror story for wayward children. She was smiling the whole time. She was still so beautiful."

Miharu knew all too well how beautiful and kind his sister was. Smiling and drenched in blood, and Miharu would find her more beautiful than any goddess. Miharu could picture her, her kagune flared out behind her as she hungrily eyed the one-eyed ghoul who smelled eerily like her. (_She once told him how dangerous a smile was. Humans were less wary of those who wore their hearts on their sleeves. Smiles could be as dangerous as a knife, if used right, she told him.)_

"I tried to run. I really tried, but humans were not designed to be faster than a ghoul. She- I was dying. But something happened. The girders fell, crushing her. We were found and taken to the hospital. Rize was deemed a lost cause by the doctor, and they used her organs to save me. They turned me into a ghoul and desecrated your sister's body. I'm so sorry. I felt you had the right to know what happened –"

The world blurred out. There, there was the confirmation Miharu never wanted to hear. Rize, his Big Sister, dead. Dead and never coming back. The human, the _fake's_ monologue became white noise, even as he sighed and left, taking the scent of Rize with him. (_The cold looped around his heart, the serpent cackled, delighted)_

_She was gone_. She was gone and he was left behind, all alone. She _promised_ him they would be together forever, until the end. She _swore_ nothing could ever separate them. She was stronger than nearly any other ghoul the duo knew, and she was taken down by _girders_. (_it would have been a slow death, a death she didn't deserve.)_

He didn't have a guiding hand to support him, to show him the way.

("_Family protects each other, Miharu. Even if they're dead, we protect their memory and their honor. Okay?")_

He took a deep breath, determined. There was only one thing he could do, one answer. (_Lies, lies, lies. He had so so many options left. Big Sister was merely the only one that mattered.)_

_Stop it, _he ordered the Woman in Red. _Stop all of it. Stop healing me. Stop protecting me. Let me __**die. Let me join her.**_

The Woman in Red buzzed, disagreeing.

_Please,_ he begged. _Don't make me live without her. I don't think I can_. He had nothing else. He had _no one_ else.

He took another deep breath and another, his breathing speeding up. The mere idea of living without his sister, of continuing on all alone was horrifying. He was getting dizzy, his mind becoming fuzzy. His eyes stung. He hiccupped, his breathing stuttering, shuttering as the world caught up, crushing down on him, without his sister's protective embrace–

He was alone, in a dark room, back in chains. His chest hitched, faltering with a loud sob. Miharu bit his lip, determined not to let another sound escape his mouth. He was strong. Stronger than so many ghouls, stronger than those that dared to chain him down the first time. He was…he was strong enough to…he…

He didn't want to live without her. He couldn't bear to stand alone. (_the chains. were. so. __**heavy.**_)

Another sob slipped past, his sister's smile plastered behind his eyelids. He squeezed his eyes shut, but the tears came. First a sting, then an itch. He blinked, staring up at the ceiling as fat droplets burned their way down his face. He couldn't stifle the accompanying cry.

_I have to see her again_, he pleaded. _She's all I have!_

_Live,_ the Woman in Red hissed back, her fury turned against him for the first time. Her poison green eyes, so like his own, blazed. _Live. Live. Live. Live._

"Let me _die_," he beseeched. "I'll die without her, please. I just want to die. Let me die. Kill me. Kill me. _Kill me_!"

She hissed back, throwing his sister's wish for him to _survive_, to _live_ at him.

Miharu thrashed, screeching incomprehensibly. He didn't notice when the door to his room opened, allowing a single ghoul in. He watched the younger ghoul writhe, limitedly, in agony. It stung him to see the brother of his heart in such pain.

He watched, even as the flower-themed ghoul tired himself out, slipping quietly into a restless sleep.

"Oh, floricică, what have they done to you?" the Gourmet wondered, his hellfire eyes soft as obsidian.

* * *

"And how is our guest, Tsukiyama?" Yoshimura asked with a smile.

With the café closed and all of their patrons home for the night, the lingering ghouls felt it was safe to talk about their little fugitive. Touka was just happy Sayuri's strange guardian somehow made it so the customers didn't hear the younger ghoul's little hissy fit. It was bad enough that Hinami had to listen to it.

Though, she really didn't think it was a good idea to call in the bastard as backup.

"My floricică is completely grief-stricken," the infamous ghoul stated, dabbing at his dry face with a bright handkerchief. "Oh, surely it would be better if I took him back to my manor. I could care for him properly there!"

"Unfortunately," Yoshimura refused. "Rize asked Anteiku to take care of her brother should anything happen to her."

"Her exact words were that 'even a den of corpse-eaters would be better than a skivvy food snob,'" Touka added helpfully.

Tsukiyama gritted his teeth. "Yes, Rize made her opinions quite clear. However, Sayuri would recover better the further he is from dear Kaneki."

"What? Me?" Kaneki piped up, blinking in wide eyed confusion.

"Yes, you, dumbass. Keep up or leave," the ukaku snarled. The one-eyed ghoul nodded, shrinking slightly. Touka sighed. Really, why was the idiot even involved in this conversation?

"Your presence will only remind Sayuri of everything he has lost, Kaneki," Tsukiyama told the delicious boy. "And, if there is anyone who would kill you in the name of Rize, it's Sayuri. Rize hung the sun and the moon to him. She was all he had. I understand that she practically raised him."

"But, we can help him, can't we?" Kaneki looked between the two ghouls who saved him. Who taught him and gave him something to look forward to in this new life. Surely, surely, they can help Sayuri too. No one deserved to be alone, after all.

"Sayuri doesn't want, or need, our help," Touka said firmly. The manager shook his head in disagreement.

"Not necessarily," he said. "You heard it, didn't you, Tsukiyama?"

"Yes," the elegant ghoul confirmed. "Sayuri wants to die to be at her side. In this desperate state, he might do something stupid. Reveal himself in the middle of Anteiku, for example."

Touka's eyes flashed. "He wouldn't dare!"

"Oh, you underestimate him," Tsukiyama stated, a smug smile twisting his lips. He side-eyed the aggressive girl. He wondered what Rize thought of her, the little corpse-eater who had the heart of a lion. The voracious witch probably got a good laugh at the ukaku's expense. "Sayuri has never been logical in the matter of his sister. If he feels death will reunite them, he will happily do anything. And, if he happens to bring down the ghouls he feels might have had a hand in her demise…well, Sayuri is a vindictive child."

"What are the chances of Sayuri learning to live without Rize, Tsukiyama?" Yoshimura inquired, dragging the Gourmet's attention from the nearly-frothing Touka and the deliciously pale Kaneki. With the girl's long-standing grudge against the older ghoul and Kaneki's new fear, the manager would have preferred to keep the eccentric ghoul away from Anteiku, at least until everyone had the time to calm down. With the situation as it was, Yoshimura needed to work with what he had to keep his companion's safe from the grieving child.

"Slim, I am afraid to say," he responded, his smile dropping to a serious frown. "The only other ghoul Sayuri has bonded with that I know of is his father, Shachi."

"And Shachi is in Cochlea, where he can't be of any help," Touka crossed her arms. "Can't we just kill the brat before he screws us all over?"

"Touka!" Kaneki exclaimed, his wide grey eye focused on the disgruntled ghoul.

"We are not going to kill him, Touka," Yoshimura scolded. "As with Kaneki and even yourself, Sayuri is in need of our help."

"Yes, Manager," she muttered, gritting her teeth. "Do we have any other ideas?" Tsukiyama opened his mouth, only for Touka to cut him off. "Any ideas other than handing the brat over to the bastard?"

As Tsukiyama swooned, Kaneki checked around the room. With Yomo, Irimi, and Koma out on business, the group of four took up very little space in Yoshimura's office. The one-eyed ghoul made sure to stick close to the two ghouls who saved his life as the one ghoul who tried to eat him paced and lurked and twirled his hands. He almost wished the stoic Yomo was in the shadows, with a slice of advice or even just a watchful eye.

"Why can't his guardian take him?" Kaneki wondered. When the strange human arrived, the college student was blown away with his knowledge. The man tossed around information about ghouls like candy as he locked Sayuri to the bed before breezing out of Anteiku.

"Mr. Toshiro was only Sayuri's guardian in name. Once Rize was of age, she took her brother and traveled the Wards. He has no desire to be involved with Sayuri at this point in time," Yoshimura provided. "Perhaps it is best to simply follow Mr. Toshiro's lead and allow Sayuri the time to calm down. He knows the child the best."

Kaneki bit his lip. He remembered Sayuri's screams and his cries. The pure horror and heartbreak on his face. How his first reaction was to hurt those around him, even as he was in pain. No, he didn't think Sayuri needed to be left alone. Sayuri needed someone to live for, something to hold onto with both hands.

But, before he could argue, Touka was expressing her relief, annoyed, and storming out the door as Tsukiyama stalked around, his nose up in the air, to thank Yoshimura for housing the younger ghoul.

He stood up quietly and slipped out the door, heading up rather than back towards the café.

* * *

Miharu wanted to die. It was a strange want. He's always only wanted to live, to survive.

First, he wanted to see what he had never known, to experience what he only caught glimpses of in his reaches.

But, then, he wanted to live on with the vibrant girl who loved him.

Now, he's seen the outside of his grey room. He's lived past his sister. What does he do now?

Death is really his only answer. With death, he could be with her again, forever. He refused to allow something as trivial as death keep them apart. They were siblings, partners, they _needed _to be together. It was an _injustice_ that they had been apart for so long. It was _only right_ for Miharu to fix everything.

"Sayuri?"

Miharu jolted, his head snapping to stare over at the closed door. It was the fake again. Did he come to tell more stories about Big Sister?

No, no, that would be impossible. He already told Miharu about what happened. There was nothing else he could tell Miharu. Unless, he came to laugh about the great and feared Binge Eater being taken down by mere metal or how the monster Sayuri was a little boy easily chained down (_damn you, Toshiro, damn you, damn you, damn you)._

"It's okay, you don't have to talk," the fake (_Kaneki Ken?)_ continued. "I just thought you might lonely. I brought the book Rize was reading the day we met, I thought I could read it to you. I mean, it's not much, but Mr. Yoshimura told us not to open the door and…well, when I'm feeling lonely, I read. It makes me feel closer to my dad. He liked to read. I think he did, at least. He left me an entire library of books. Not that you would care about all of that."

Miharu blinked, a soft huff escaping his lips. The scent was soothing, the sister who held him close to her heart and, while the voice was off (_so very, very, off)_, it was calming in its own way.

"Book?" he asked, his curiosity raising its ill-timed head. His sister read many books, eating through a novel almost as fast as she ate through a body. He couldn't recall what book she was reading before she died. That night (_and all of the nights afterwards when the only thought on his mind was __**where?**_) was a blur, blending together into a confusing mesh of warm and cold, purple and blood red.

"Oh!" the fake gasped, startled out of his tangent. "Um, _The Black Goat's Egg, _by Takatsuki Sen. We met at Anteiku actually, and started talking when she noticed we were reading the same book. I…haven't had the heart to reread it again since, but now is as good a time as any, right?"

Miharu was silent. He never cared for reading, there was always too much to do, too much to learn. Survival was his concern first and foremost.

He continued to be silent as the fake started reading, letting the words run into his thoughts, painting images as he realized his sister read this, loved this, took time away from living to throw herself into this other world of murders and blood (_he didn't understand why, they killed more than they could count, tearing apart minds and families with a smile and a joke. The only difference between humans and ghouls to the siblings was who was safe to eat. Everyone was an enemy, everyone but each other.)._

He feel asleep to the sound of the fake's reading.

(_Let me die, he begged, feebly. Live, the Woman in Red purred.)_

* * *

They followed this pattern for three days before the fake switched it up.

Miharu flinched when the door to his dark (_grey, why is it always grey. Miharu hated grey, hated it as much as he hated humans and chains and the cold)_ clicked open, harsh light spilling in. The fake eased in, the light haloing behind him as he checked to make sure no one noticed him breaking the manager's no-enter rule.

"What are you…?" Miharu asked, his voice not rising above a whisper. The fake jolted, snapping the door shut as he turned a wide eye to the younger ghoul.

"Oh, sorry!" he apologized, striding to the bed to click on the bedside lamp. Miharu had to bite his lip to stifle his cry at the light. It illuminated the room, banishing memories of a cement room of boxes and cruelty. "I just…I thought you might be getting lonely in here. It's not very comfortable."

Miharu blinked up, confused, at the fake's soft smile as he sat on the edge of the lumpy bed, perfectly at ease.

"You're all kinds of stupid," Miharu noted. He shifted his hips, lifting them so his kagune had an easy escape route if the fake made a single bad move. The Woman in Red clucked, tethering down the heat even as the chains weighed down his warmth – _he could feel it sluggishly covering his sewn eye, guarding it from interference. No one was allowed to take the last piece of his sister_. Sometimes, the fourteen year old wondered who the real child was.

The fake huffed out a laugh. "I guess you can say that," he agreed, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment. "I'm still getting used to this whole 'being-a-ghoul' thing, though. I like to think everyone is cutting me some slack."

"Stupid," Miharu reaffirmed, nodding to himself decisively.

"I think you're trying to hurt my feelings now," the fake added. "Hey, is your name really Sayuri? Tsukiyama and Touka both talk like it is…."

Miharu hummed, eyeing the older one-eyed ghoul. He still didn't understand why the ghoul was lavishing him with so much attention. Without Rize, Miharu was practically useless, especially chained down as he was. Sucking up to him served no purpose. And yet, this baby-faced ghoul, with little to no idea of the mess he was in, was throwing away his free time for the ghoul who _dreamed_ of his death. "Kamishiro Miharu."

"Miharu," the fake tried, the name falling of his tongue with little fanfare. "Springtime beauty?"

"Springtime fascination," Miharu corrected. He let the words hover in the air, the room descending into silence when he didn't continue.

"You don't talk much, do you, Miharu?" the fake remarked. Miharu stared up at him, blankly. He laughed nervously, looking to the side. "That's okay. I usually don't talk much either, but I think I can fill up the silence enough for the both of us."

And, for just a moment – _a moment of weakness as the Woman in Red cooed and Miharu's heart bled_ – everything seemed okay.

* * *

"Miharu!" the fake cried, bursting through the door a week later.

"You're early," Miharu muttered, sitting up as his wrists strained awkwardly in their chains, his arms pulling to their limit behind him as he leaned forward. "Something wrong?"

"Ah," the fake panted, leaning against the frame as he puffed in each breath of air. "Tsukiyama…Tsukiyama has taken Kimi. I'm going to go save her with Nishio. I'm sorry, I won't be back in time to read to you tonight."

Miharu blinked, blind-sided by the situation. He didn't know who Nishio or Kimi were – _friends? Other corpse-eaters? It didn't matter, either way – _but Gourmet was defiantly worth the little ghoul's attention. He still needed to have a conversation with that bastard (_for daring to harm his sister – but it was the fake who the Gourmet tried to devour, who the Gourmet was hunting, not Rize – he tried to eat Big Sister-the fake-her-him – the Gourmet knocked him out, cast him into the darkness without Big Sister and left him to be chained down)._

Miharu's head itched. The Woman in Red purred, nudging at the lingering traces of insanity, plucking at memories of his sister as she folded his focus back on the ghoul before him. (_He could feel her, shuffling and searching, stitching together the yawning gaps in his mind as she cooed. He wasn't worried, not when the Woman-With-His-Eyes, the Woman who always protected him, was meddling. She knew what was best, she heard-saw-knew everything he did and more.)_

"You won't be coming back," Miharu corrected. "You're weak. The Gourmet is strong." He knew the fake was going on a suicide mission and it sent a spike to his heart, a barbed wire around his brain. It itched at his senses, the mere thought that his sister's scent would cease to exist, that the ghoul would vanish, leaving him alone in the dark room once again.

"Wha?" the fake tried. "I'm sorry, I don't have time, Miharu. I'll come back tomorrow, don't worry about me. I just didn't want you to think I forgot."

Miharu was many things. He liked to believe weak was not one of them, not anymore –_ not for many years, not since the cold and the chains and the kind little girl who welcomed him with open arms_.

"Take me with you," he ordered. The fake paused, hesitating. Miharu leaned forward beseechingly, ignoring the sting of his muscles as he pulled his arms the entirely wrong way. "I won't let you take what I have left of her away."

The fake sighed, saddened by his words. Miharu couldn't string together enough cares. This wasn't his sister, but he was all he had left of her. He _refused_ to allow the fool throw it all away. "I'm sorry, Miharu. I'll be back tomorrow."

With that, the fake fled, running away from Miharu's burning glare.

"She's not allowed to die," Miharu spoke aloud to the Woman in Red. Short black hair morphed into purple, a distressed frown twisting until Rize smiled down at him, a gaping red hole where her heart should be. "I can't lose her again."

The Woman in Red, the understanding woman who guarded Miharu from harm no matter the cost, tutted, fluttering with confidence. She let a stream of warmth ease down Miharu's arm, pooling under the cursed cuff.

Miharu refused to twitch as the Woman in Red started to _eat_ Toshiro's magic, tearing it off of the cuff and gulping it down. She hummed, delighted and Miharu copied her, tasting a distant tint of something sweet coat his mouth.

She repeated the action on the second cuff, stripping away the restricting magic and consuming it.

(_He could feel the snake as it scuttled away in fear, the yawning void of numb chill twining around it until it was barely a hiss in the shadows of his mind and the Woman in Red smiled and smiled and smiled, her lips stained red and her skin cracked to show glowing poison green roiling underneath)._

Tearing off the chains was a simple, and lightening, matter after the dampening magic was dealt with. Miharu let himself take a moment to breath, banishing the memories of _grey_ and _hunger_ away. Without the chains weighing him down, nothing about the room even remotely reminded him of his former prison. Clean and empty, the room was open for anyone to enter and anyone to leave, as if waiting for someone to make a home out of its otherwise lonely parts.

It didn't matter, however. That idiotic fake, walking around with his Big Sister's scent, was going to get himself killed, taking the last of his family away from him. And _no one took his family away from him._

_(The Gourmet, the Doves, the Humans, all of them will suffer and die and pay for everything they have done to his family, to the ones that loved a freak.)_

Miharu eased himself out of the bed, his feet planted firmly on the ground as the warmth glided through his muscles, joints, tendons. It pooled around his skull as well, forming his much-beloved mask, covering his pain and grief with the bubbling bloodlust he was known for.

(_She was multitasking; directing the warmth and the heat as she scraped at his insides, flexing her control and twisting until water became ice became steam.)_

He wasn't aware of when he exited the room, of when he started trailing along the hallway in search of a way out, the faint scent of his sister all he needed to find his way.

"What the hell?"

Miharu blinked, his focus on the scent fading as the voice cut through his haze. A new scent wafted through the air, the young ghoul frozen before him unfamiliar to his eye.

_Blood, coffee, rotten food, lavender._

She smelled familiar, barely. But, she was not one of his, not close enough that he engraved her scent into his heart. And anyone who was not his, who was not a member of his family, was an enemy.

The Woman in Red eeled the warmth through the stranger's thoughts, _reaching_ until she could snap her fingers, breaking the strand of consciousness. The ghoul collapsed where she stood, the warmth muffling the sound from the Wingless Owl.

Miharu tilted his nose into the air, the heat of his blood enhancing his natural abilities. He could smell them, the fake and his companion. It was a straight path, easy to follow.

The one-eyed ghoul took a step, every thought straining to reach the fake's side, to wrap himself around his sister's lingering scent and _breathe her in._

The Woman in Red _reached_, the warmth stretching beyond his mind. It hooked, anchoring on a distant thought and she gave an elated trill as Miharu felt the strand of warmth snap, like a rubber band being let go from one end. The rush was the world passing by, of his body being sucked into a thin tube and then spat out, left the one-eyed ghoul dazed, confused.

He remembered that feeling, from years ago. When his fear and desire to _leave _clouded everything. Only for him to run head first into the one person who would be the light in his eye for the next eight years. The sole reason for his continued existence.

_Big Sister, _Miharu thought, breathing in her familiar, if muted, scent. _Big Sister,_ he thought, breathing the scene of a church, of blood and ghouls and pains, a hymn of screams echoing enough to gather the attention of a passing human.

"Ken," he said, stepping forward, cutting through the Gourmet's spiel – it was unimportant; it always was.

(_Big Sister, Big Sister, Big Sister, his heart chanted, his lips forming the words his tongue refused to allow passed.)_

"Ken, you're hurt," Miharu stated, his attention on the broken bones and winded halfling, superficial injuries for a ghoul but potentially devastating for a human (_and which –which, which, which – is he?). _

"Mi-Miharu?" he gasped, confused, his single visible grey eye filled with concern.

"Floricică," the Gourmet purred, delighted. He did a ridiculous, energy wasting twirl, his arm raised over his head uselessly. Miharu hated him a little bit more. (_Why, why, why did he enjoy his company? Why, why, why did he once look forward to spending time with him? All he can remember is the chill of metal around his wrist and his sister running in fear every time he hears the Gourmet's voice, each crooned word echoed by his sister's (Ken's? Ken's, Ken's, Ken's) whimpers of fear.) _"I knew you would escape! Are you hungry? Darling Kaneki and I were just about to starting eating. Oh, floricică, don't worry your pretty little head. I always have space at my table for you!"

Miharu canted his head, his single hellfire eye on his prey (_Former entertainer? Babysitter? Oh, oh, save him, sister, dare to say – friend?). _

(_Big Sister, Big Sister, Big Sister, his heart chanted with each beat, a song for only him. A memory immortalized by his body.)_

_(She smiled as the world crashed and popped and crackled around them, a war waging against them for being born, for being different, freaks and monsters teaming together to survive. And she smiled till the sun bleed red and the moon wept. She smiled and smiled.)_

Miharu took a steadying breath and reined in his emotions. His kagune bloomed, waving a greeting of vengeance to the world.

This was not a fight he could afford to lose, not with Ken on the line.

Miharu closed his eye and _smiled._

* * *

**Outtake: First Family Dinner –**

"Here, Miharu," Shachi pointed out, crouched by the corpse of a young man he had downed under the attentive eye of his children. Miharu shuffled forward, hesitant, as Rize nudged him. The one-eyed ghoul went in a wide circle, making it blatant he was looking to avoiding getting too close to the older ghoul.

Shachi tried not to sigh in aggravation. He knew it would only set the younger ghoul into another tizzy. He didn't think Rize would appreciate Miharu's sentient kagune lashing out. Again.

Once Miharu was settled on the other side of the body, his eyes more on his new father than the meal, Shachi continued.

"Every ghoul has a different way of eating," Shachi explained. "Some are wasteful, picky and flippant. Romeo was one such ghoul, preferring the heart of young girls and leaving the rest of their body to rot. We," Shachi stated, his hellfire eyes piercing. "We are not wasteful. We eat nearly every portion of our meal. Too many kills because of _incompetence _will only call forward the attention of the Doves."

Miharu nodded, silent. Shachi decided that was enough of an agreement to carry on.

"Of course," Shachi said, reaching his hand into the man's torn open belly, riffling around with a practiced ease of experience. "It would be best if you avoided the stomach. There is usually too much human food resting there. Some ghouls have taken a liking to stomach acids, annoyingly enough. They say it's tangy and pleasantly sour. More than one has gotten ill off of leftover human food, however."

Even Rize was listening intently, her eyes on the man's healthy looking organs. It was so rare to find a man fit enough to interest his daughter. Usually, they drank too much or smoked too much or sat too much. As picky as her mother, that one.

"In fact, it is best if you avoid most organs. Too much human food to be healthy. The lungs and heart are the only parts here you would be able to enjoy."

"And the skin," Rize interrupted. Miharu leaned against her side as she saddled up to him, her chin resting on his shoulder to watch better. "Papa told me skin is an organ too. Isn't that just weird, Miharu? Organs are supposed to be on the inside, safe and warm and soft."

Miharu designed to hum in acknowledgement, his new sister chuckling as she nosed his crown. Her movements were slow, cautious, but Shachi knew his daughter all too well. By the time the lesson was over, he would not be surprised to find Miharu on Rize's lap.

It was a novel experience to see his bloodthirsty daughter so soft and affectionate with anyone, even just a tiny beastling like Miharu. She had turned as unforgiving as stone since Audrea's murder. Perhaps she still was, but now there was a seed of warmth festering inside.

Shachi could only hope that seed grew before she got herself killed.

"Skin and muscles are a large part of our diet, yes," Shachi confirmed, tearing away a slab of flesh with a shh-cik, revealing a span of untouched, sinewy abdominal muscle. "It is best to separate the muscles with your kagune or eat off of the bone. Rize can attest for how long it take to get muscle and blood out from under your nails if you try to eat by the handful."

Rize groaned. "Even longer than getting blood out of my hair. It's a nightmare, Miharu, an absolute nightmare."

"Which is why, Miharu," the boy snapped his hellfire eye from the corpse to his new father, listening attentively. "You will have your hair up every time you hunt. No expectations."

Miharu reached back to fiddle with his long braid self-consciously but nodded in understanding.

"Other than skin, muscles, heart, and lungs," Shachi continued, tapping at the body's face to move his children's' focus. "Eyes, tongues, and brains are excellent sources of protein. Cartilage as well. The main thing I want you to remember, Miharu, is that we don't eat bones." He broke off a rib in example, flipping the edge for Miharu to see the dark maroon center. "Bone marrow is another matter entirely."

"Oh, bone marrow is the best, Miharu!" Rize piped up, shifting forward to grab the offered rib, causing Miharu to ease onto her legs. Another push, and the boy would be on her lap. Rize's grin inched into a smug smile. "It's just so _sweet,"_ she cooed, sucking on the bone. She hummed in delight, her hellfire eyes blooming across her face in soot black roots.

Miharu watched and made a note of Rize's love of bone marrow. She seemed to love all parts of the human, even the sections Shachi said to keep away from, though. Rize stopped, noticing his attention.

"Do you want to try, Miharu?" she asked, offering to bone to him. Shachi made an aborted movement to break off another rib when the one-eyed ghoul slipped the bone from her light grip to gaze at.

It didn't look edible. Like stone or marble or Rize's shiny white teeth when her lips snapped into a smile. He peered into the break, seeing his Big Sister had consumed most of the bone marrow when she was snacking. Canting his head, he shrugged, directing a half-formed question towards the red haired woman before putting the rib to his mouth and repeating Rize's previous actions.

It _was_ sweet. Sweeter than the large and thin inhabitants' hearts and sweeter than his own eye. He smiled gleefully, eyeing the body with renewed interest.

"Miharu liked it," Rize concluded, snagging the now useless bone from his limp fingers. "Do you want some more?"

Miharu nodded, thinking for a moment. The red haired woman buzzed, reminding him. "Can I have an eye, too?"

"Oh, baby, you can have whatever part of him you want!" Rize promised, tossing him a wink before she continued. "As long as I can eat his heart."

"Troublesome children," Shachi interjected, folding his arms. Miharu froze, his hand resting on his dinner's rib cage. Rize huffed, pouting as she looked up at her father. "Leave the muscles to me."

Miharu didn't relax, but at least he tilted his head in acquisition, agreeing to the older ghoul's demand. Shachi figured that was the best he could expect from the boy for tonight. They still had a lot of moonlight ahead of them before Rize was full and he could only hope the boy etched each lesson into his mind. He didn't need two troublemakers toeing the line, flirting with flocks of Doves.

Rize was more than a handful enough as it was.

But, the boy had promise.

Shachi tore off an arm, observing as his son popped a blue eye into his mouth. As expected, he decided, of Audrea's family.

* * *

**(When nearly all of the reviews say the story is well-written and I'm left staring at the half-finished next chapter like, ...Is it well-written _enough?_ Is it good enough to update with yet or should I read it all over a couple dozen more times _just to be sure_? A.K.A. All of you are awesome and I really hope this chapter is all you were expecting and more.) (Side note: I, personally, hate this chapter, oh my gosh.)**

**Y****es, Miharu, learn to love again. And then I'll tear that down too. **

**Iunno, I feel like Kaneki would read Shakespeare. **

**Some reviewers brought up that I've made Miharu seem like the Ghoul version of the Boogey-man, only for him to get knocked out by Tsukiyama. One, Aogiri, One-Eyed Ghouls, and Kakuja are closer to Boogey-men than Miharu. Two, Miharu is ridiculously over-powered with his magic, at least compared to non-magical Ghouls. Three, Miharu is the Evil Robin to Rize's Evil Batman. He's creepier cause he's cuddling a damn head while Rize smiles like a brainless bimbo before they slaughter an entire pack of ghouls. Four, word of mouth is powerful as hell and some people will believe a creepy baby ghoul is the real muscle rather than his very pretty older sister. Five, Miharu is _literally having a breakdown_. His sister is, to his knowledge, right beside him after missing for a month. Instead it's Kaneki and Miharu kinda zones the fuck out. Also, fear is an absolute bitch. To me, Canon!Harry doesn't have the ability to freeze up because he doesn't see himself as significant. He puts others before him, letting him shove his fears to the background, usually. Miharu is big on the survival of himself and his single precious person. He'd die for Rize, but he is number 2# in his priorities. Miharu was denied access to people and his basic rights. Everything he learned about the world, he learned through Petunia and Vernon's minds. He's never had to _fear_ anything, not even them. Because _they _were afraid of _him._ _He was their boogey-man. _So,_ the rare instances where fear takes control, it's all consuming. Its terrifying and everything is horrible. _**

**I wanna make one thing clear. Harry cannot do Focus-less magic. The Woman in Red can. She is literally Harry's metaphysical, sentient wand. From the beginning, _Harry did not have control over his magic._ His magic, his warmth, did things without his prompting. _That_ was Lily. Technically, Harry can 'wrench' control from Lily if he used his Focus stones or a wand. But, Lily rarely goes against him, so there is really no reason for him to. It's easier if Lily simply acts as the middle woman. And so, Lily is the most badass character in this entire story. (Another reason Miharu's hype is more hot-air than anything else. JUST LIKE IN CANON. CAUSE, YA KNOW, EVEN HARRY KNOWS LILY DID THE HARD PART THAT FATEFUL HALLOWEEN NIGHT.)**

**On that note, Touka is gonna be real pissed that she "fainted" when faced with 'Sayuri'. The breaking consciousness trick will only work when a ghoul is surprised, btw. It works all the time on humans and usually on wizards (when they don't have creature blood or training), but ghouls are a bit hardier and only works when they're surprised. **

**Guest Reviews: **

**Thank you - Imma raise your squealing with my ecstatic shrieking-**** I'm so glad you're enjoying the story!**

**Guest (1) - Thank you! (Nice (evil) laugh, btw!)**

**Guest (2) - Thank you~**

**Guest (3) - :3**

**Guest (4) - Aye, aye, Captain! Haha, I'm glad you're enjoying it!**


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